Shinobi Battle Tactic 4
by Kuro-Ookami4
Summary: Uzumaki Naruko has been basically alone her whole life. Now she has a chance for a fresh start with two new teammates and a jounin sensei. She also as a talent rarely seen in recent years, a talent that can let her surpass Hokages. Eventualy NarukoxSasuk
1. Prologue

**Hello this is Kuro-Ookami4, but you my dear readers can call me Ookami (or Wolf whichever you like) and this is my first fanfiction. I'm glad I finally started writing this my brother has been all over my ass telling to stop thinking and start writing so I guess I placated the little bastard. Personally I think that it will be an interesting story because there are very few Female Naruto stories out there that have any decent length to them. When this story was being created in the beginning stages Naruto was still a guy and was going to pair with Sakura, but then I thought one day what would happen if Naruto was a girl? Needless to say my mind whirled with creative and humorous possibilities and soon I found myself fixated on the idea. But still as a guy I find it a lot harder to write from a girl's perspective than a guy's perspective. This means I will be willing to take almost any advice on how to say or change something Naruko or one of the other girls say, because I'm pretty much bullshiting at this point and hoping for the best.**

**With that I leave to enjoy you the Prologue chapter of _Shinobi Battle Tactic #4 _I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Prologue

"_Where had the peaceful night gone?_" thought the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato. One moment he was standing his wife Uzumaki Kushina after she gave birth to their child the next he's being bombarded with an unrivaled killing intent and a monstrous roar. He Shushined to the roof and his jaw dropped in horror and disbelief.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune was attacking Konoha.

The Yondaime clenched his fists. He knew there was no way to actually kill the demon. He like all other seal masters knew there was only one way to defeat such beast; to create a Jinchuuriki. The nails of his clenched fists bit into his hands drawing blood. He knew the only seal that could stop this beast because he developed it himself. No jutsu short of the Shiki Fuujin could possibly hold the strongest of the Biju.

Unfortunately he also knew that an adult's chakra system would be destroyed while trying to hold the beast thus freeing it. This would mean he would have to seal the beast into a new born child whose chakra coils had not formed yet. Blood from his hands dripped onto the ground as he realized his only option. He could not ask another person to make the sacrifice as both the Hokage and a person.

"_Naruko why couldn't you wait until tomorrow?" _Minato asked exasperatedly. _"It's officially the worst timing ever to be born, but at least I can count on you to not misuse the power of the beast."_

As he thought that his mind began whirling. What if he put seals with the Shiki Fuujin to ensure that not only Naruko's chakra system naturally assimilated the demon's chakra but eventually killed off the consciousness of the fox as well he thought. Minato knew that he could not make it an instant event but by the time Naruko was twenty five it should be finished.

Minato nodded to himself as he Shushined back to Kushina. _"Oh crap, one more major problem with this plan; Kushina." _Minato thought with an air of defeat. Gulping nervously as he reached Kushina he said (rather obviously) "The Kyuubi is attacking Konoha"

As Minato spoke those words a thrill of dread shot through her. Somehow managing to stay calm she asked "Are you going to use Naruko?" She knew about his research into jincuuriki and how to seal them. She knew that Minato had been trying to figure out how to protect Konoha from both jinchuuriki and Biju.

Although she was calm you could she the fear and apprehension in her eyes at the idea. She _knew_ that the villagers would shun her at the very least. Hell, that may even be the best case scenario. Naruko may never be accepted by them and lead a hellish life.

"Kushina-chan you know that I do _not_ want to do this, but Konoha needs Naruko. I hate to do it but I have to call on the Shinigami to seal away the Kyuubi." Minato said quietly. Kushina had gasped at the mention of the Shinigami. It was the ultimate sealing jutsu developed by Minato, but it came at a price; the user's life.

"YOU CAN'T DO IT!" Kushina shouted. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE OUR CHILD ALONE!" A heavy silence filled the air seeming to strangely cut them off from the rest of the world even the fight between the Konoha ninjas and the Biju.

"What?" Minato quietly not quite believing what he heard. Leave their child alone? Of course he wouldn't. Kushina would be there for Naruko right?

"The nurses told me there was something wrong me, that my bleeding isn't stopping, and that unless there's a miracle I'm not going to survive." Kushina whispered tears beginning to come from her eyes. "Minato you can't leave her alone, please you can't! Especially not with a burden like that!"

Hearing her words was like ripping apart of his soul. Kushina was dying, and he had to stop the bastard fox, so no matter what the outcome Naruko would never know her parents.

"Kushina you know I made a lot of enemies in the war and any one of them would give just about anything to get back at me-" Minato started but Kushina interrupted, "Which makes it an even greater reason for you to stay alive and protect her!" Kushina said little harshly. Minato flinched but continued "They would even kill her to get back at me after I'm gone." Kushina looked like she was going to try and persuade him not to do sacrifice himself but Minato cut her off. "No, you know I have to do this Kushina, it is my duty as Hokage to perform the sacrifice and I can't bring myself to ask someone else to sacrifice there child."

Kushina looked furious "You are already sacrificing your life why do you have to sacrifice more!? Let someone else do it you're giving enough." she growled.

Minato smiled sadly, "There are two more reasons why I have to use Naruko Kushina-chan. The first is if I use Naruko she'll always have a weapon to defend herself with against my enemies. My second and most important reason is that since she is _our_ daughter she will never abuse that power and if she chooses to use it will be to defend Konoha."

Kushina seemed to deflate at his words. She knew that no matter what Minato would be sacrificing his life so why not use it to give their daughter the defense she would need. Maybe she was thinking about this the wrong way. If it wasn't for Naruko the fox would be able to rampage to its hearts content. Maybe the villagers would treat her as a hero.

"She would be a hero wouldn't she?" Kushina asked with a hint of desperation in her voice. Minato smiled back gently feeling like a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. "Of course she would be! She would be not only my daughter but she would be the jailer of the greatest Biju in existence!" Minato said proudly.

"_Your_ daughter?" Kushina said in a growl her eyes narrowing dangerously. Minato sweat-drops eyeing her warily, "I mean _our_ daughter." Minato clarified hastily. They shared a last moment appreciating the moment of lightheartedness before Minato said "I have to go they need us."

Kushina gulped painfully tears streaming from her eyes "Just…just give me another moment." she choked out then looked at Naruko sleeping peacefully. "Naruko, I love you, and I know you probably won't remember those words but remember the feeling please. Never doubt that I love always and forever." Kushina said using the little phrase that she and Minato used with each other. Kushina looked at Minato and said "Thank you for everything. I can never repay for all the love you gave me. I'll love you forever and always."

Minato bent down and gave her one last kiss before saying with a huge grin on his face "No problem, it was my pleasure Kushina-chan." then he turned more serious, "Remember I'll love you too, forever and always." Then he picked up Naruko and Shushined away.

After he left Kushina laid in her bed as blackness closed in on her. Her last thoughts were "Minato I love you…Naruko I'll always watch over you and pray for your happiness…" and with that Namikaze-Uzumaki Kushina passed away.

* * *

Minato rushed towards the Hokage Tower. He knew rationally that he did not have the time to do this but he could not just leave this world with leaving his daughter with something to remember him by. He scrabbled for a pen and paper and wrote out a short message and sealed it with a blood seal. He knew it wasn't perfect of messages but it was heartfelt.

Minato then rushed to where the battle was taking place. As soon as he arrived Sarutobi Hiruzen the Sandaime and Jiraiya the Toad Sage went to meet him. Sarutobi was the first to speak, "Minato where have you been and why is this child with you? This is no place for her." Jiraiya did not say anything at first, he just looked from Minato to Naruko then to the fox and then back at Naruko.

"Minato NO! You can not do this especially not to her." Jiraiya said harshly. Sarutobi looked back and forth between the master and student and asked Jiraiya "What are you talking about?" Jiraiya's face hardened as he said "Minato's going to make a jincuuriki out of his daughter._" _Sarutobi looked horror stricken, "There's got to be a better way of doing this Minato such drastic measures are not neces-" but Minato cut him off. "Don't you think that I looked for an alternative?! There is no way to kill a Biju, you can only seal it isn't that right Ero-sensei?"

Jiraiya showed none of his usual irritation at the nickname which showed his seriousness for the situation. He sighed and said bitterly "The gaki is right there is no known way to kill a Biju; you can only seal it. A jinchuuriki must also always start off as a baby since their chakra coils aren't formed and thus can accept the changes brought about by the demon. And if you use an adult it just destroy the chakra coils and escape." Sarutobi looked like someone kicked him in the gut. "So how do you seal something that powerful?"

Minato replied with two words "Shiki Fuujin." Now both Sarutobi and Jiraiya looked like they had been kicked in the gut. "NO that technique was made forbidden due to it's cost you can't do this." Jiraiya said angrily. Minato gave him a serious look and said "As Hokage it is my duty I can ask this sacrifice of no one else." They both still looked mortified but Minato could see the acceptance in their eyes. He handed Jiraiya the letter he wrote in the Hokage Tower and said to them both with a huge grin " Well time to go I guess. Watch out for my daughter will ya? Make sure she's treated like a hero. It's mine and Kushina's last wish. Ja ne."

With that he turned around and put a face of absolute seriousness on and performed the seals **Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram** and shouted "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**" while hitting his hand on the ground. There was an explosion of smoke and the next thing Minato knew he was on the head of Gamabunta.

Gamabunta looked around and saw the Kyuubi then shouted "**Why can't you ever summon me for something simple?**" Minato not flinching said "Sorry Bunta just help me this time and you won't have to deal with me again." Gamabunta quickly grasping the severity of the situation exhales a puff of smoke from his pipe and says, "**I guess I can help you out one more time runt since you've been a much better underling than that pervert.**"

"Thank you Gamabunta, now lets get closer. Put about five hundred feet between you and the fox and I'll do the rest. Gamabunta nods and then takes off. Once he lands Minato takes a moment to balance himself then goes through the seals **Snake, Boar, Ram, Rabbit, Dog, Rat, Bird, Horse, Snake** and shouts "**Shiki Fuujin**".

There was a blinding flash of light and then the fox was gone leaving no trace except for the damage it caused. Gamabunta caught the Yondaime as he started to fall with his tongue and gently set him on the ground. **"You did good Namikaze, and I'm proud you were my summoner"**, he says before disappearing in a mass of smoke.

As Jiraiya and Sarutobi arrive Minato lays on the ground dying with only eyes for his only daughter. "Na-Naruko sorry for leaving like this but its for you and the village. I hope one day you'll forgive me. I love you…". And with that Namikaze Minato passed away paving the way for a new legend in the Shinobi world.

* * *

**Well there it is I hope you think it was good enough of a start. I felt I did a good thing by keeping a bit of humor in there it was a little over the top depressing otherwise if you ask me. I'd really appreciate any comments and ideas. Critisism is welcome, flames are not.**


	2. Genin Exam

**Okay then here it is the first true chapter of Shinobi Battle Tactic #4. But first I'd like to thand my first reviewers:**

**Alchemist Astrid: Thanks again and that shouldn't happen again as well.**

**moonray9: Thanks for the compliment it does boost my self-esteem (which was as frail and scared as a kitten in front of a rabid pit-bull)**

**RogueNya: Thanks to you too but I think either you wrote it down wrong or I wasn't clear enough; the Kyuubi wouldn't be destroyed until 25. I can't bring myself as an author to destroy such an easy source of antagonism that early in the story**

* * *

Genin Exam

"NARUKO!!!" was the resounding shout throughout the village. The cause of this was that one of the most prestigious monuments of Konohagakure no Sato, the Hokage Mountain was found vandalized with childish scribbles. The ninja of Konoha were now busy chasing the culprit through the streets and roof tops, but without much visible success. This was due to the fact that they were chasing the Prankster Queen of Konoha Uzumaki Naruko. She had had far too much experience of the Chuunin, Jounin, and ANBU chasing after her for her various pranks. It still surprised her every now and then how the trained ninja couldn't keep of her in an orange jumpsuit and blond pigtails. _"I mean come on I put this stupid thing on just to get a challenge and they still can't ever catch me"_ Naruko thought with a sigh.

Naruko took a moment to reminisce on some of her better pranks. Such as the time she had managed to spike Jiji's tea with hot sauce. She chuckled remembering how his lips had been red and puffy for the rest of the day. Another time she had managed to switch all the signs for the public bathhouses leading to some embarrassed women and some very bruised males.

Naruko paused in her trip down memory lane to think about how she wanted to escape from them this time when a light bulb went off in her head. She went around the corner and performed a Henge to look like Iruka-sensei with ropes tied up. The two chuunin chasing showed up moments later to see an irate Umino Iruka shaking around trying to get free from ropes that were binding him.

The chuunin looked stunned. "What are waiting for she's getting away?!" Iruka/Naruko shouted. They immediately went on in a blur. Naruko released her henge and chuckled "You would think by now that they would realize Iruka-sensei is the one that always catches me. There's no way I'd be able to tie him up."

"I'm glad you think so highly of my skill Naruko." a voice said behind her sweetly. "Yeah no prob-" she started but froze as she recognized who the voice belonged to. She slowly turned around to see a scowling Iruka. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE IN CLASS!" Iruka shouted.

At the Ninja Academy a tied up Naruko sat on the floor pouting. "Naruko this is getting a little ridiculous." Iruka said with exasperation. "You are already failing this year, do you want to left behind by all your classmates?"

"Whatever, the only person here who is isn't a complete ass here is Hinata" Naruko grumbled. Hinata was the Hyuuga Main Branch heiress and Naruko's only friend. Not that Naruko was ungrateful by any means, but it was kind of lonely having only one friend. _"I'm just glad that Hinata is not nearly as shy as when we met. Damn it, it was really annoying breaking her of that stutter. Well almost breaking it she still will do it when she's put under pressure." _Naruko thought with mild irritation.

Iruka's eye twitched, "Well since Naruko missed the test on the henge on think we should all do it again! Everyone line up!" The room was filled with loud moaning and a few said things along the lines of "way to go Naruko".

The first one up was Haruno Sakura. She stepped out of the line and said "Henge". A puff of smoke later a perfect copy of the Hokage stood where Sakura had been standing. "Great job with your henge Sakura. A perfect replica of the Hokage." Iruka said with a smile.

Sakura smiled cutely and did a little hop of joy, but on inside where Inner Sakura reigned supreme the reaction was more like this, **"Shannaro, of course it was perfect who the hell does he think I am!?"** Inner Sakura proclaimed loudly.

Unfortunately Iruka was unaware of this as he said "Next up Uchiha Sasuke" As Sasuke went up Yamanaka Ino accosted Naruko "Geez, really great work you've done here Naruko. What kind of stupid idea was it to paint the Hokage Mountain?" the blond asked clearly annoyed.

"HA, you just don't understand my genius Ino!" Naruko proclaimed.

Nara Shikamaru a kid with permanently bored expression etched onto his said lazily "You're so troublesome Naruko. NO ONE understands your `genius` as you call it".

In response Naruko only puts on a pouting face and says "What do you know lazy-ass?" and Shikamaru replied with the his usual troublesome comment. Hearing her name called Naruko starts walking forward, when she gets a devilish gleam in her eye. _"He never actually said what we had to transform into. Kukuku…"_

"Alright Naruko transform." Iruka said without really paying attention otherwise the gleam in Naruko's eyes would have told him to afraid. Very afraid.

"Henge!" Naruko shouts, and a puff of smoke later what looked like an older and more filled out version of Naruko appeared naked with clouds of smoke barely covering the parts that matter. Iruka stood there stunned while his brain tried to process the scene in front of him. It's processing was sped up when in an odd combination of a seductive voice and an innocent face Naruko said "Is this all right Iruka-sensei?". With that Iruka was instantly shoot back by the force of his nosebleed.

Naruko transformed back in a puff of smoke laughing and said " How did you like the Oiroke no Jutsu Iruka-sensei?" When he quickly recovered Iruka asked in an incredulous voice "Why the hell would you make a jutsu like that?!"

Naruko struck a pose with her hands on her hips and replied with a defiant face and a voice to match "A kunoichi uses every weapon at her disposal including the perversion of the male mind. HAHAHAHA!"

* * *

After the class had ended Iruka dragged Naruko off to go clean up the mess she had made. It was now close to sunset and Naruko had started on the cleaning the Sandaime's face when she muttered "This sucks."

Iruka heard and replied with "Too bad. These are the consequences of your actions, and you have to learn to deal with them. In this case the consequence is that you don't get to go home until you finish cleaning up the mess you made."

"What's the point? It's not like there's anyone waiting for me back anyways." Naruko retorted somewhat darkly. After hearing that Iruka face changes to an expression of compassion and understanding.

"Tell you what, if you hurry up I'll treat you to ramen tonight." Iruka said while looking away and scratching the scar on his face.

An expression of nirvana comes onto Naruko's face then she says excitedly "You're on Iruka-sensei! I'll get this done in no time, dattebayo!" Shaking his head with a rueful smile at her antics Iruka sits down to wait for her to finish.

Later that night at Ichiraku Ramen, Naruko's favorite establishment, Iruka and Naruko are enjoying their ramen when Iruka takes a break from eating to ask Naruko, "Why did you do that to monument Naruko? You do know what the Hokages are don't you?"

Naruko looked scandalized. "Of course I do. They are the villages strongest and most respected ninja. Like the Yondaime who sacrificed himself to save us all from that monster fox!"

"So if you knew then why did you do it?" Iruka asked confused.

"Because I'm going to be better than all of them, I'll be Hokage one day, a legend that will be looked at with more respect than even the Yondaime, dattebayo!" Naruko declared.

Iruka looked slightly stunned by the announcement but decided to humor her and asked "Oh, how are you planning on doing that?" expecting to hear a loud declaration about guts and hard training, so he was surprised when she motioned for him to come closer.

Naruko leaned forward and whispered into his ear "Hi. Mi. Tsu." This caused Iruka's eye to twitch in annoyance. "So does that mean you already have an actual plan on how to surpass them then?" Iruka said disbelief in his voice.

Naruko shook her head enthusiastically and said "Yep! I know exactly what I need."

This confused Iruka even more because the way she said made it seem different compared to the normal boasts he heard from Naruko.

Naruko interrupted his musings when she turned to him and asked "Ne, Iruka-sensei can I ask you a favor?"

"Let me guess, seconds?" Iruka said with a smile.

"No, not that, but if you're offering-" Naruko started but Iruka interrupted her.

"Getting off track a bit there aren't you Naruko?" Iruka asked in an amused voice.

"Err, right" she said scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. She then brought her hands together in a pleading manner "Can I try on your hitai-ite?" Naruko begged.

"Oh, this" Iruka said gesturing to item on his forehead. Naruko nodded her head furiously, but Iruka shook his in response. "Sorry, Naruko but you have to wait until you are a fully qualified kunoichi of Konoha before you get to wear this." Seeing her pout Iruka laughs and says "Don't worry as soon as you pass tomorrow you'll get one of your own."

Naruko grins widely in response and shouts "Then I'll pass, dattebayo! Oi, Jiji another bowl on Iruka-sensei!"

"NANI!!" Iruka cries out in fear of his wallet.

* * *

The next day each student was demonstrating their nerves in different ways. Naruko was sitting in her chair waiting for the test to start and was so excited that words no longer adequately expressed it so she was reduced to shaking. Hinata was sitting and pushing her fingers together, a habit that she kept no matter how hard Naruko tried to get rid of it. Akimichi Choji if it was possible was eating even more than normal. Ino and Sakura were arguing over Sasuke ever louder than they usually did. Inuzuka Kiba was bragging more and being louder about it than was strictly necessary. Sasuke, Shikamaru and Aburame Shino seemed to be the only ones not affected. Sasuke was too confident in his abilities to be nervous and Shikamaru was asleep because it be to troublesome to be nervous. And Shino was…well Shino. Everyone else was being generally louder than normal due to nerves.

Iruka came into the classroom and tried to get everyone's attention politely a couple of times, but when that failed he shouted at them with his trusty Demon Head Jutsu. Iruka cleared his throat, and said "Okay, this years exam will done in alphabetical order. Aburame Shino you're up first."

This continued on until it reached Naruko, with each one of her classmates leaving with a shiny new hitai-ite. Naruko took a deep breath and when her name was called she walked into the next room with her head held high and a grin on her face.

"Okay Naruko what you need to do is make three bushins using the Bunshin no Jutsu." Iruka said with a smile on his face.

Naruko felt her happy world shatter like glass as she heard those words.

"_NOOOOO! NOT THE BUNSHIN, I CAN'T DO IT TO SAVE MY LIFE!"_ Naruko thought in frenzied panic. _"Please work, please work."_ was the mantra going through her head as she gathered her chakra.

Chakra gathered she shouted "Bunshin no Jutsu". A poof later what was later what was lying next to Naruko did not even rate the term pathetic. Utterly useless would probably be a much more accurate description. The clone that was lying next to looked white and dead. Both Naruko's and Iruka's eyes twitched as they looked at it.

"YOU FAIL!" Iruka shouted which caused Naruko to collapse and look as dead as her useless bushin.

"Come on Iruka, she movements were right, and she did make a clone." Mizuki said kindly. This caused an instant reversal in Naruko's mood with her starring starry-eyed at Iruka.

"I'm sorry I just can't pass her. Every other student made at least three working clones, and some made more." Iruka said with an air of finality, looking pityingly at Naruko wishing he could say otherwise.

* * *

Outside the Academy Naruko sat on a swing looking longingly at the kids and their parents, idly wondering what it would feel like to be loved by a parent when Mizuki showed up.

"You look like you could use someone to talk to." Mizuki said with a warm smile.

On top of a building overlooking Konoha Mizuki sat down with Naruko and explained how Iruka did not have any parents growing up either and how he sees himself in her.

"So you see Naruko he really just wants to keep you safe," Mizuki said gently.

"Yeah but I really wanted to pass" Naruko said dejectedly with her head hanging.

Mizuki looked at Naruko and scratched his chin before saying "Well I guess you could take the make-up test."

Naruko's head shot up looking at Mizuki hopefully while Mizuki thought _"Hook, line, and sinker"_

* * *

Later that night the ninja in the village were in an uproar because someone had stolen the Scroll of Seals. The Hokage confirmed with his crystal ball that it was Naruko who had stolen it. Many wondered how she was able took to detect and disarm the traps around but for some reason few people wondered how she even knew about the Scroll in the first place. When enough ninjas where gathered the Hokage gave the order to capture her alive and unharmed and then waving his arm the ninjas took off.

Meanwhile in in the forest Naruko was panting exhausted but excited. She finally finished learning the Kage Bushin no Jutsu when she sees Iruka approaching. She scratches the back of her head in embarrassment and says "I guess you found me like always, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka looks at her in confusion and asks "What are you doing here with that scroll, Naruko?"

"The make-up test!" she answers excitedly.

"Make-up test?" Iruka says getting his suspicions rising.

"Yeah, the one where you steal this scroll and learn a jutsu from it. But, Iruka-sensei, I only learned one will that be enough?"

"Naruko who told you about this scroll?" Iruka asked to confirm, since he already had a strong suspicion.

"Mizuki-sensei of course." she replied now starting to look confused.

Iruka then heard the familiar whistling in the air of flying kunai. Iruka pushed Naruko away and deflected some of the kunai, but still got hit in the leg with one. Naruko hit the ground confused and looked up to see Mizuki crouched in tree with two giant shuriken on his back

"I see you found him already, eh, Iruka?" Mizuki asked tauntingly.

"What's going on?" Naruko asked her confusion at an all time high.

"Naruko run away with that scroll! Mizuki is a traitor that used you to get the scroll. He can't be allowed to have it, it contains dangerous forbidden jutsus that can't fall into the wrong hands."

"Don't be a fool Naruko. Are you going to trust a man who has been lying to you the whole time he's know you. In fact the whole village has lied to you." Mizuki asked with an evil grin.

"What do you mean?" Naruko asked apprehensively. She was having an odd feeling, like she both did and did not want to know what Mizuki was talking about.

"The secret of course, the one made by the Sandaime made the day you were born." Mizuki said the grin widening even more.

"MIZUKI STOP!!" Iruka shouted, but to no avail Mizuki continued anyway.

"The secret that on you day you were born a demon was sealed into you. That day you became the monster fox… Kyuubi no Kitsune."

The world seemed to stop to Naruko. _"No!" _Naruko thought _"That can't be true, but then again Jiji would never tell me why everyone hates me. It also explains that strange seal that Jiji would never tell me about. But I'm not a monster am I? Am I a demon? I don't know, I just don't know!"_

"That's why you're all alone Naruko, that's why every hates you. Even Iruka over there hates you because you killed his parents and made him all alone."

Naruko screamed holding her head an chakra just started flowing out of her in massive amounts. Mizuki took this distraction as a golden opportunity and launched one of the giant shuriken at Naruko.

"NARUKO GET DOWN!!" Iruka shouted.

Naruko fell back and was too stunned to move she closed her eyes and waited for the end to come, but it didn't. Instead she heard a new sound and opened her eyes a bit and saw Iruka covering her protectively.

Naruko couldn't understand what had happened. Her brain just was not registering it. It was all she could do to get out one word.

"Why?" she asked in a choked voice.

"Because I know what it's like to be alone and to have no one notice you. I know what it's like to go home to a house with no one waiting at home to welcome you back. And I know what it feels like to _need_ someone to acknowledge your existence." by this time in his speech tears had started falling from Iruka's eyes.

Her brain was shutting down leaving only a basic response to a situation: run. Before anyone could stop her she off running in the trees. Iruka was left behind calling out after Naruko.

"Mizuki what have you done!?" Iruka asked enraged.

"What should have been done years ago: kill that demon brat. If I so happen to profit off her getting the scroll, so much the better for me. In fact I'm kind of surprised that the traps didn't vaporize her because I couldn't figure out how to disarm them." Mizuki said in an off hand way.

What he said surprised Iruka. Up until that point he had assumed that Mizuki had disarmed the traps for her to take the scroll out of tower, but to hear that he didn't confused him. Regardless it was a riddle for another time right now he had to help Naruko.

"Well then I'm off to hunt the demon brat see ya later Iruka." Mizuki said in an annoyingly happy voice and then he was gone.

"Not if I get to her first" Iruka declared with a fierce determination in his eyes.

A short while later Naruko could be seen running away in the trees. Iruka could be heard calling to her to slow down.

"Naruko give me the scroll before Mizuki gets it" Iruka said while jumping in the trees by Naruko. Then suddenly Naruko jumps towards Iruka and rams him with her body. Naruko and Iruka both hit the ground hard skidding. A poof of smoke later "Iruka" was revealed to be Mizuki in disguise.

"H-how did you know I wasn't Iruka" Mizuki coughed while trying to regain the wind that had been knocked out of him.

Another poof of smoke revealed that "Naruko" was actually Iruka. "Because I'm Iruka." By now Iruka's wounds were starting to take their toll and Iruka was forced to lean against a tree just to remain sitting up.

"Why do you defend her, she's the worst monster Konoha's ever seen, and as you can see she's not exactly in a proper state of mind. If given a chance a monster fox like her would use that scroll to take revenge against Konoha!" asked an angry Mizuki.

"…You're right that's what a monster fox would do." Iruka replied. Naruko would was hiding behind a nearby tree felt her heart clench in pain. "But Naruko isn't a monster fox. She's a knuckle-headed, ramen-loving, Prankster Queen who would make a wonderful addition to the ranks of Konoha!" By the end of the Iruka's speech Naruko was crying uncontrollably, from her gratitude at Iruka's words.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You're pathetic. Have really gone so low as to care for that worthless demon. You know now that I think about I could easily frame her for your death. It would satisfy almost everyone in the village. They will be so busy thinking about how Iruka met his end at the hands of the demon he loved like a little sister that by the time they notice I'm gone I'll have sold the scroll to another village that will pay me enough money to live like a king for the rest of my life. It'll be perfect, but first I'll need you to DIE!". As he said the word, die, he launched his second giant shuriken. Iruka closed his eyes waiting for death content in the knowledge that Naruko was getting to safety when the last thing he expected happened.

Naruko standing in front of him her arm through the center of the shuriken with the shuriken slowing coming to a stop. Naruko gave Mizuki a glare of complete and total determination and said in a growl "If you hurt Iruka-sensei again I _**will**_ kill you!"

It took all Mizuki had not to take a step back in response to the look Naruko gave him and for him to ask "Oh and how do you think you'll manage that? I'm a chuunin and you are the dead last drop out. You couldn't even get one hit in on me."

All Naruko did in response was to raise her hands and put them into a cross shaped seal and say **"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"** and there was a huge explosion of smoke and what was revealed stunned both Iruka and Mizuki. No less than a hundred Narukosfilled the clearing that they were in. They were on the ground, in the trees, and general anywhere there was room.

All the Narukos said simultaneously "If I can't get one hit how about a hundred!" Then all the Narukos went into action and pummeled Mizuki into something that could only be identified as a human being if you squinted _really_ hard.

Her work finished Naruko turned to see how Iruka was. "Ne, Iruka-sensei your going to be alright aren't you?" Naruko asked in a worry filled voice.

"Don't worry even though I'm a teacher a can still take my fair share of hits." Iruka told her with a chuckle. "Naruko close your eyes I've got a present for you."

She did as she was told all the while wondering what kind of present he could possibly have for her in a situation like this. When Iruka told her to open her eyes. She saw something was off, and it took her a second to realize that it was that Iruka did not have his hitai-ite on. With trembling fingers she reached up and felt the cool metal that could mean only one thing.

"Congratulations Naruko you are promoted to genin." Iruka said in a proud voice. What followed next was extremely out of character for Naruko she gave out a high pitched squeal that nearly destroyed Iruka's eardrums and then she wrapped her arms around him with complete disregard for his wounds and proceeded to attempt to squeeze the remaining life out of him.

* * *

**I realize that there may be people out there who do not know much Japanese (I myself am going on information of countless anime references and a trusty online translator) so I'll give you the translation (or butchered translation whichever comes first), and if anyone notices a mistake in them _please_ tell me.**

**Jiji: Old Man**

**Himitsu: Secret**

**Oiroke no Jutsu: Sexy Jutsu**

**Henge: Transform**

**Also if you don't know what Kyuubi, Kitsune and Kage Bunshin are by now...I'm sorry but I sincerely doubt you have any business reading this story...**

**As always critisms, and compliments are welcome. Flamers beware, I'll find you...**


	3. Bell Test

**Here's the new chapter for _Shinobi Battle Tactic 4_. It'll go through the meeting of Team Seven and the bell test.**

**But first: chaos nutter the answers to your questions are these. Question 1: Yes in some areas like romance and parts of her common sense. Question 2: Yes, most definitely yes kukuku…**

* * *

Bell Test

Naruko's eye twitched. Ever since she taught Konohamaru the Oiroke no Jutsu and he had declared himself her rival after telling him a few things about strength the kid would not leave her alone. That was three days ago. He was an amusing kid but still this was the fourteenth failed "ambush".

"Konohamaru don't you know that the planks are supposed to line up" she asked exasperatedly. Konohamaru jumped out from behind his poorly done camouflage.

"HA! Just what I expected from my rival Naruko-nee-chan you saw through my disguise!" he proclaimed and changed at Naruko but only making it far enough to trip on his scarf (again).

Naruko sweat dropped but recovered and said "Sorry Konohamaru but I don't have time to play today 'cause it's my first official day as a ninja." She gestured to the hitai-ite displayed proudly on her forehead.

"Too cool nee-chan!" Konohamaru said excitedly. "But you'll still play ninja with me won't ya?" he asked hopefully.

Naruko reached down and patted his head and replied "Sure whenever I get a chance" with that Konohamaru scampered off and Naruko continued on her way to the genin explanatory meeting. After she arrived and saw Hinata, Naruko went straight to her.

"Oi, Hinata how's it going?" Naruko asked cheerfully. Although they were friends they only regularly saw each other at the Academy. The rest of the Hyuuga family were a bunch of stuck up pricks that hated her. This meant that Hinata was not allowed to leave the Main Branch compound to visit Naruko and there was no way for Naruko visit Hinata on the compound without getting kunai and shuriken thrown at her.

"N-Naruko w-what are you d-doing here?" Hinata asked confused. As far as she knew her best friend had failed the Genin Exam so what was she doing here now?

"Oh right, I haven't told you yet have I? I took a make up test a couple of days ago, and I was made a genin." Naruko said with a huge grin on her face.

"_Make up test? What make up test?"_ Hinata thought confused.

"Naruko stop fooling around there are no make up tests for the genin exam." Shikamaru, who was sitting in front of them, said in a lazy voice.

Naruko glared at him. She wanted so very much just to tell him that she had stopped Mizuki from getting the Scroll of Sealing and she almost did but to do that would mean she would have to tell him that she had stolen it in the first place. And she really did not think that she needed to look stupider than she already felt.

"Shows what you know lazy-ass, all I had to do was learn a cool new jutsu and they let me become a genin like the rest of you." Naruko said in a slightly heated voice.

"Troublesome blond" Shikamaru muttered as he turned away. _"There is no way that Naruko could have learned one jutsu that would have let become a genin just like that."_ Shikamaru thought.

"Good thing Ino wasn't here when you said that Shikamaru" Naruko said in off hand manner. Shikamaru shuddered involuntarily at the thought. "Maybe I'll tell her just how "troublesome" you find blonds to be." Naruko continued in the same voice. Shikamaru paled and turned around to see the gloating look on Naruko's face.

"Ne, Shikamaru you really need to get of that fear of her. She may be loud and pushy but she's not that violent." Naruko said with a slight amount of humor in her voice. It was only slight because she found Shikamaru to be the most tolerable person inside the room after Hinata.

"It's not her I fear and you know it. It's the fact that she thinks that I always need to be doing something that I hate." Shikamaru said. He did not even bother trying to deny that actually making an effort that is not absolutely necessary was something he avoided at all costs.

"Yeah it is kind of amazing the amount of effort that you put into not doing anything. Seems a little backwards doesn't it?" Naruko asked with a bemused look on her face.

Shikamaru's response was cut off by the arrival of Sakura and Ino who had both fought through the doorway at the same time.

"HA, I win forehead-girl! I get to sit next to Sasuke-kun today!" Ino said triumphantly while trying to catch her breath.

"In your dreams Ino-pig I won this time so there is no way I'm going to let you get your hands on my Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted back.

The boy in question sat in desk in the center of the classroom with his fingers laced together staring at the wall. He did not even acknowledge the presence of the two extremely loud and hyper-competitive kunoichi entering the room even though it was him they were competing for.

Naruko's eye started twitching. _"What is it that they can possibly see in him! All he does, other than show off, is sit there and brood all the time! Stupid emo-bastard!"_ Naruko thought angrily. In one swift movement she jumped over the heads of both Ino and Sakura to land on Sasuke's desk in a crouch and started staring at him real hard.

"What are you doing dobe?' Sasuke asked in as bored of a voice as Shikamaru or maybe even more.

"I'm trying to figure out what makes those psychos act like that for an emo-bastard like you." Naruko said in annoyed voice. This caught Sasuke's attention and he started to glare back at her. It got to a point were you could practically see the sparks flying when the kid that was sitting in front of Sasuke and therefore slightly under Naruko stood up and bumped her. She was thrown off balance and leaned forward. Both Naruko and Sasuke saw what was coming and both couldn't do anything in time to prevent it. With a silent scream in her head Naruko's lips met Sasuke's.

There was approximately three seconds of completely stunned and shocked silence throughout the classroom. That all ended when Naruko regained control of her body she pushed away from Sasuke.

Tears welling up in Naruko's eyes as she sent him flying two desks to the right with a violent slap and yelling "ERO-UCHIHA!". This seemed to wake up the rest of the class as Sakura and Ino were immediately in front of Naruko yelling.

"How dare you steal Sasuke-kun's first kiss!" Ino yelled.

"How dare you hit Sasuke-kun like that!" Sakura yelled equally irate.

"He stole _my_ first kiss you psychos! How would you like it if Kiba stole yours?!" Naruko shouted. Kiba made some sort of indignant noise in the background but everyone ignored him. Ino's and Sakura's faces both paled instantly. "Glad to see that the image set in! Well it feels the same way for me with the Bastard!" Naruko said angrily.

"Don't call Sasuke-kun a bastard, dobe" Ino said heatedly

"I'll call the teme whatever I want Fan-girl!" Naruko replied.

It was probably for the best that Iruka entered when he did because things between Naruko and Ino was about become violent and bloody. He looked from the dazed Sasuke (dazed from both the event and the slap), to Naruko and the two rabid fan-girls, and using his super deductive teacher powers instantly comprehended the scene.

"Naruko apologize and help Sasuke up, Ino and Sakura leave Naruko sit down and leave Naruko alone." Iruka said with a sigh too used to scenes like this to be really fazed by it.

Grumbling Naruko went over to Sasuke and held out her hand to help Sasuke up and muttered "I'm sorry" with an eye twitch. If anyone other than Iruka had asked her to do that she would never ever remotely consider apologizing, and even for Iruka she wouldn't be enthusiastic about it. Sasuke ignored her proffered hand and stood up on his own.

Without looking directly at Naruko he said "Like I'd need your help up after a pathetic hit like that, dobe."

Naruko growled and hissed out "Ungrateful bastard! See if I help you again!" and turned her back on Sasuke and stormed away. Sasuke also walked back to his seat with his mind full of disconcerting thoughts such as _"I can't believe she had the gall to blame me for _that_ happening! How could I have prevented that, although it wasn't too bad…Wait WHAT!? Where the hell did _that_ come from!_

Iruka waited until Naruko had taken her seat in the back of the class with Hinata and said "Congratulations to all of you. You have all now learned the basics of being shinobi and kunoichi. It is now time to begin your career as ninjas, but always remember to be careful. Even the Hokage could lose to a genin if caught off guard. During the course of your career it is inevitable that you will take the lives of others, but never forget to feel remorse for your actions because it is the only thing separating you from becoming a demon or a monster. Try always to find a way to incapacitate instead of killing, but if you have to defend your life or the life of a teammate never hesitate. And remember my door will always be open to all of you if you ever need to talk about anything."

Finishing his speech he picks up a piece of paper and said, "You will now be divided in teams of three with a Jounin sensei. All decisions are made by the Hokage and are thus final. That means no arguing Naruko, Sakura, and Ino."

"Hai, hai." all three respond in bored voices.

"Team One will be-" Iruka started but Naruko stopped listening an turned to Hinata.

"Ne, Hinata-chan do you think we'll be on a team together?" Naruko asked excitedly.

Hinata thought about it for a moment and shook her head, "I don't think so Naruko-chan usually teams are given a specialty and neither of ours match up…" Hinata trailed of sadly looking at forlorn expression on Naruko's face. She decided to continue on though, "But don't forget Naruko-chan we'll always be friends regardless of what team we're on, okay?" Hinata asked softly.

Naruko's eyes brightened instantly, "You're right Hinata-chan! Who cares what team we're on we can still train together and go out to ramen, dattebayo!" Naruko said just as excited as before.

Hinata smiled at Naruko while thinking _"It's kind of sad how easy it is to cheer her up, but I'm glad she's not sad anymore. There's something…wrong about the idea of a depressed Naruko-chan."_

"Team Seven will be Uzumaki Naruko" Iruka said instantly getting the girl's attention, "Haruno Sakura" at this Sakura exclaimed "NO!" while Naruko simply let her head drop to bang once on the table, "and Uchiha Sasuke." and Sakura squealed and and Inner Sakura shouted** "IN YOUR FACE INO-PIG!"** and Naruko lifted her head and started to repeatedly bang her head against the table. Iruka continued like nothing happened "And your Jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

"Team Eight will be Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. Your Jounin sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai. Team Ten will Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji, and Nara Shikamaru. Your Jounin sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma " Iruka finished reading and looked up about to speak when Ino shrieked, apparently a delayed reaction as her brain tried and failed to process the information just handed to her. "Why am I stuck with a kid who stuffs his face all time," Ino said dancing around the f-word while talking about Choji because it was suicide to use it, "and the most lazy person in Konoha, while Sakura gets to be with Sasuke!"

Iruka looked at Ino and said "These teams were created so each team could find a balance-" Iruka started but was interrupted by Naruko stood up apparently thinking her time could be put to better use arguing than killing her brain cells by pounding her head on the desk. "Yeah Iruka-sensei why am I stuck with losers like the Fan-girl Number Two and the Bastard!" Naruko shouted.

Iruka scratched the back of his head and said "Well Naruko, Sakura got the highest written test score and Sasuke had the highest practical score-" but Naruko interrupted again and asked "Yeah so why are they with me then?!"

Iruka's eye twitched. He was really getting tired of being interrupted today. "Like I was saying they had the highest scores and you had the lowest so you balance each other out." Iruka said leaving Naruko's mouth hanging open and the other students started laughing at her. Naruko sat down grumbling about getting Iruka back for this one day and Iruka continued.

"Now before you meet your Jounin sensei you all get an hour lunch break to get to know each other better. I suggest you do so it makes working as a team so much easier." Iruka finished.

With that the genin started filing out of the door, but Naruko made her way towards Sakura. "Ne, Sakura wait a moment will ya!?" Naruko shouted after her. Sakura stopped due mostly to shock. She didn't think Naruko had ever called her anything but Fan girl. Slightly intrigued she turned around to see Naruko looking at her with her hands behind her head.

"What do you want?" Sakura asked apprehensively. As interested as she may be in knowing what Naruko wanted Sakura wasn't stupid. Naruko had not built up the reputation of Prankster Queen for nothing.

Naruko looked like what she was trying to say was costing her a lot of effort, "You know we have to work as a team tight?" Naruko asked. Sakura nodded her head wondering where Naruko was going with this. "Well I was thinking about how we don't get along that well, I guess I was thinking that it would probably be for the best if we start off with a clean slate." Naruko said sheepishly.

Sakura stared at Naruko slightly stunned, on one hand it would be nice to have a friend that's not interested in Sasuke but on the other that would mean becoming friends with the dead last that everyone else hated. "You can't just wipe out a few years of dislike in an instant Naruko." Sakura said quietly.

Naruko looked at her for a moment and nodded "Okay then how about a trade then?" Naruko asked. "A trade?" repeated Sakura confused. "Yeah I'll tell you how to get Sasuke-teme's attention and you stop insulting me so much." Naruko said brightly.

Sakura gaped at her, " You mean to say that you know how to get Sasuke-kun's attention, but you've never done it?!" Sakura asked incredulously. There was just no way someone like Naruko whose hated as she is wouldn't use something like this to her advantage to get people to like her was there?

Naruko nodded and asked "So do we have a deal?" Sakura nodded her head and Naruko held out one of her hands and said "Hello my name is Uzumaki Naruko, and I'm going to be the Hokage one day, dattebayo!"

Sakura hesitated for a second and reached out her hand and grasped Naruko's. "My name is Haruno Sakura, and I'm going to be the best medical ninja ever." They both smiled, Naruko widely and Sakura sheepishly.

"So how do I get Sasuke-kun's attention Naruko." Sakura asked eagerly.

"That's right I almost forgot. I still don't get what you see in the guy but to each their own I guess. Right you know how his entire clan was wiped out don't you?" Naruko asked seemingly without any regard to the idea of it being a sensitive topic. Sakura nodded her head, "Well you know how he is going to have to restart his clan right?" Naruko asked. Once more Sakura nodded her head and asked "Yes, but what does this have to do with getting his attention."

"I was getting to that!" Naruko said irritably, "My point is this: What sort of woman do you think Sasuke wants to start up his clan with?"

Sakura didn't even stop to think about it, "The best looking of course!" she said as though it should've been obvious.

Naruko held her arms up and crossed them to make an X and made a buzzer noise. "Wrong answer!" Naruko said loudly.

"Well if it's not the prettiest girl he's after, then what does he want?" Sakura asked slightly irritated.** "Shannaro, if doesn't want a hot girl like me what does he want?!"** Inner Sakura wondered as well.

"The strongest of course." Naruko said as though it should have been obvious.

"What are you-" Sakura started but Naruko interrupted her and said "Well if you think about it a little it makes sense" Naruko said impatiently.

"What do mean?" Sakura asked still confused.

"Do you have anything up there other than book smarts?" Naruko asked while knocking on Sakura's head.

"Quit it!" Sakura said loudly not really in the mood to deal with Naruko's games.

"Hai, hai nakimushi-chan. Well like I said if you think about it makes sense. Before they were wiped out the Uchiha commanded the Military Police and were considered Konoha's strongest combat clan. It would make sense that Sasuke wants to make the clan as powerful as he could." Naruko said.

"So you're saying that if I become the strongest kunoichi Sasuke will go on a date with me?" Sakura asked excitedly.

Naruko shook her head "It wouldn't hurt if you stop acting like a fan girl too. Can't you tell by now that it's really annoying him. Hell, it annoys everyone. And sorry the number one spot belongs to me Sakura-chan."

"As if! I'm not going to let the dead last beat in becoming the best kunoichi!" Sakura said but this time when she said dead last it didn't sound as if it was meant to be an insult, instead it sounded more like a joke.

The two spent the rest of the lunch period getting to know each other and talking like they had been friends for years and hadn't just buried the hatchet five minutes before. Once the hour was up they made their way back to the class. They walked in laughing and the rest of the class looked at them as if they had both sprouted another head.

"What?" they asked together. The class had a simultaneous eye twitch. The collective thoughts of the class was pretty much _"What the hell caused this unholy union to happen?!"_ As Naruko and Sakura sat down next to Sasuke they started to fall silent, well as silent as Naruko could be, meaning she was humming a little tune that no one could recognize. As time went by the other genin started thinning out as their respective sensei came to pick them up. When Hinata left Naruko gave her a grin and a wave, but she did not even acknowledge the others as they left.

Just about three hours later Naruko had finally had it, "WHAT THE HELL MAN! WHERE THE HELL IS HE!" she shouted.

"Geez, Naruko be quiet." Sakura said exasperatedly. By now she normally would have been shouting at Naruko but after getting to know her a bit and realizing that she wasn't _that_ annoying, not to mention the deal they made, she decided to leave it at that.

"_NO ONE_ makes me wait this long. I'll make him pay kukuku…" Naruko said as she gained a dark aura and her pigtails writhed like snakes. Upon seeing this both Sasuke and Sakura shuddered and turned away from the disturbing sight. Unfortunately they could hear her messing with things near the door and what sounded suspiciously like metal scraping on metal.

About fifteen minutes later Sasuke and Sakura both worked up the courage to look at what she had done and were shocked. "Ne, Naruko don't you think that's a bit of overkill…" Sakura started to say but trailed off noticing the mad glint in Naruko's eyes.

"NOPE! If he's late enough to give me the time to set up a trap like this he's got it coming, dattebayo!" Naruko said.

A minute or so later man with silver gravity defying hair walked through the door activating a trip wire that set off five kunai in his direction. He dodged those with relative ease but he didn't see was that one of the kunai cut another rope trap releasing several more kunai. _"A double trap?!"_ the man thought with alarm as he heard them whistling through the air. He dodged those as well, but something unexpected, or rather unexpected from anyone but Naruko, happened. The kunai cut another rope. _"WTF?! A _triple_ trap?! This is getting ridiculous and I don't think I'm going to dodge this one!"_ and with that the man was buried in a small mountain of chalkboard erasers.

"HA! Serves you right for making us wait, dattebayo!" Naruko yelled triumphantly.

The man's head was the only part of him that was visible under the erasers and was glaring at them with his one uncovered eye. "Alright then. My first impression of you three is…I hate you all! Meet me on the roof in two minutes." and with that he poofed out and the eraser mountain collapsed in on itself.

* * *

On the rooftop the man sat on the rail and Naruko, Sakura, and Sasuke sat on the ground in front of him. "Okay then might as well get started. Introduction time."

Sakura looked confused "What do think we should say, sensei?" she asked.

He crinkled up his eye in a way that it looked like it was smiling, "Oh you know the usual: likes, dislikes, hobbies, and your dreams that sort of thing."

Naruko pointed at him and said "Why don't you go first sensei?"

"Me?" he asked and the three genin nodded "My name is name is Hatake Kakashi. Likes and dislikes…I don't feel like telling you. I have a lot of hobbies. And my dream is…something I haven't really thought about." he said with an eye smile.

The three genin's eyes twitched and they thought in unison _"All we learned is his name…"_

"Alright then you're up first Pinky." Kakashi said.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are-" She paused because she was about to say Sasuke but then she remembered what Naruko told her, "My likes are learning new medical jutsus from my aunt and learning new things. My dislikes are people who make fun of my forehead. My hobby is doing trivia games. And my dream is to be a better medical ninja than Tsunade-sama." Sakura finished.

Both Sasuke and Kakashi were staring at her in a mild case of shock, but for very different reasons. Sasuke because she hadn't made one reference to him in more than five sentences. Not that he really minded, but considering how she was normally all over him it was a cause for shock.

Kakashi was staring because it was amazing that a kid as young as her was actually able to use medical jutsu. From the way she said it, it seemed like she had been learning for a while now. Now that he thought about it one of his friends said that they were teaching a kid medical jutsus but who was it again? _"Ah well, I'll remember if it was important."_ he thought but for some reason an odd chill went down his spine as he finished the thought.

"Alright you next Duck-butt." Kakashi said shaking the feeling.

Sasuke looked irritated but answered anyways, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have few likes and many dislikes. My dream is more of an ambition that I will make happen, and that is to revive my clan and to kill a certain man." Sasuke finished darkly.

The two girls shuddered at his tone but Kakashi looked like he had heard something he expected. "All right Blondie your turn." he said lazily.

"Alright, the name's Uzumaki Naruko, dattebayo! My likes are eating ramen and learning new jutsus. My dislikes are perverted bastards who steal a girl's first kiss." this was said with a glare towards Sasuke causing Kakashi's eye to widen in confusion, "and waiting for the water to heat up for three minutes before adding the ramen. My hobbies are pulling pranks, and gardening. And my dream is to surpass all the Hokages, dattebayo!"

"Baka, how do you expect to surpass the Hokages when you're the dead last?" Sasuke asked derisively.

Naruko glared at him and snarled, "Like I'd tell a arrogant bastard like you that."

They started glaring at each other and sparks were starting to fly when Kakashi decided to step in, "Now, now I can't have my cute little students starting fights with each other can I?" he said with an eye-smile.

They both harrumphed but turned away from each other. "Now that wasn't too hard was it?" Kakashi asked. The glares he received in response told him how very wrong he was. He cleared his throat and continued, "Well moving on. You guys get your first mission tomorrow."

Naruko face quickly changed to one of excitement, "Cool! What is it, what is it?" she asked almost bouncing.

"Survival training." Kakashi said simply.

"WHAT?!" Naruko shouted. Sasuke looked extremely irritated as well.

Sakura decided to take the more mature approach, "But Kakashi-sensei, we've already had training at the academy. We're genin now why do we need training like that?" she asked.

"Yeah about that…that was a test to see if you had the potential to become genin. This system has a 66% fail rate. This means out of the twenty-seven graduates only nine will become genin."

"NO WAY!" Naruko shouted her face becoming an exaggerated look of despair. _"I don't want to get sent back to the academy. Not again."_ she thought with despair_._

"Well meet me tomorrow at Training Ground Seven tomorrow at five in the morning." he turned to leave and said over his shoulder, "Don't eat anything. You'll throw up." and then with a poof of smoke he was gone.

"He wasn't serious was he?" Naruko asked nervously, but Sakura was just pale and Sasuke just walked away. "Somebody answer me!" Naruko shouted into the air.

* * *

The next morning found Naruko, Sakura, and Sasuke all arriving at the same time, but to their infinite annoyance Kakashi didn't show up at five. Or six, seven, eight, nine, or ten. By eleven o'clock Naruko was nearly foaming at the mouth with loosely chained rage.

"I'll kill him! I swear I will if he doesn't show up in the next five minutes, dattebayo!" Naruko shouted.

"Naruko don't be stupid he's a Jounin. What do you think you could do to a Jounin?" Sakura asked, while Inner Sakura was ranting, **"And besides I want to help, shannaro!"**

"Now, now no reason to get violent." they heard Kakashi say from behind them.

Naruko and Sakura both spun around and shouted, "YOU'RE LATE!" only Naruko's shout was accompanied by a kunai which Kakashi caught and tossed back to her like it had never happened.

"Well you see there was this black cat that crossed my path and I had to go the long way around." Kakashi said holding up a hand in apology.

The genin all stood there wondering if his excuse could have possibly been any lamer. They all shook there heads thinking _"At least we'll never hear an excuse worse than that"_. The poor naïve fools.

"Well then I suppose we should start." Kakashi said as he set an alarm clock and pulled two bells out of his pocket. "Your mission will be for each of you to get one of these bells off me before the time is up."

Sakura noticed a major flaw in the plan right away, "But Kakashi-sensei there's three of us and only two bells. How can each of us get one?"

"Oh yeah I almost forgot the one who doesn't get a bell gets tied to one of those stumps while your teammates eat their lunch in front of you." Kakashi said and then added "Also the one that doesn't get a bell gets sent back to the academy. Feel free to use kunai and shuriken because if you don't come at me with the intent to kill you won't stand a chance."

"HA, this coming from someone that couldn't dodge one of my traps." Naruko boasted loudly.

"You know that the one who shouts the loudest usually has the least talent. I say we all ignore the dead last." Kakashi said in a bored tone.

"_Dead last…DEAD LAST!!! I'll beat his ass so badly he won't even be able to eat through a straw, DATTEBAYO!" _Naruko thought angrily.

"Alright when I say start-" but at this point Naruko had already pulled out a kunai and charged Kakashi. Then faster than any of the genin could see he was behind Naruko holding her arm so that she was holding her own kunai to the back of her neck. "Getting a little impatient aren't we? I didn't say start yet." Kakashi said calmly.

"_I didn't even see him move…" _Sakura thought completely awed.

"_So this is the strength of a Jounin"_ Sasuke thought excitedly.

"_This doesn't mean anything! I'll still pound him!" _Naruko thought stubbornly.

"Okay then…start!" announced Kakashi. Immediately the three genin hopefuls sped off.

"_Well at least they understand the basic principle of staying hidden." _Kakashi thought looking and feeling for their presence _"But then again I've been wrong before…"_ Kakashi though wryly as Naruko appeared right in front of him.

"Fight me fair and square, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruko shouted. Sakura sweat dropped in her hiding place and thought, _"Why can't you ever do anything normal Naruko?"_. Sasuke's line of thought was much more like this _"How can such a stupid girl survive in this world? I mean I've heard about dumb blondes but this is ridiculous…"_ **(AN: I am in no way responsible for the way Sasuke thinks so blondes don't hate me cause I don't think like he does. It just seems like the sort of thing he would think.)**

"You know, compared to the others you're a bit…weird." Kakashi said bluntly.

"You would know all about weird wouldn't you! You and your gravity defining hair!" Naruko said thinking it an amazing comeback but Kakashi just sweat dropped. Naruko then charged with the thought _"I'll get him this time, dattebayo!"_.

Kakashi made a move to reach into his back pouch, and Naruko instantly jumped back in anticipation of a counter-attack. "I guess this the first thing I'll teach you about will be Shinobi Battle Tactic 1: Taijutsu." Kakashi said his hand still in his pouch.

"_Taijutsu is hand-to-hand combat right? So why is he reaching for a weapon?"_ Naruko thought confused. As Kakashi started withdrawing his hand Naruko put up her guard. Imagine her surprise when the fearsome weapon he pulls out is a book that he immediately opens and starts to read.

"What are you waiting for? A formal invitation?" Kakashi asked in a bored voice.

"What the hell are you reading that book for Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruko asked incredulously.

"Are you stupid? To find out what happens next of course. Don't worry though it won't make a difference anyway." Kakashi answered back in the same bored tone.

"I'll definitely kick your ass!" Naruko shouted and charged again. She started with a spinning backhand to the head which Kakashi blocked without even looking up from his book. Once she touched the ground swept her leg around to kick at his ankles, but he just jumped over that. She followed the momentum and after she had finished she jumped at him with the intent to elbow him in the face, but this time he completely disappeared. Naruko looked left and right but she still couldn't see him. Too bad she didn't look behind her.

"A ninja really shouldn't let their enemy get behind them, baka." Kakashi said his hands held in a seal.

"_Wait is that the tiger seal? Is he going to use a jutsu against her"_ Sakura thought frantically

"_I can't believe it that a seal used for fire jutsus. Is he taking that dobe seriously?"_ Sasuke wondered disbelievingly.

Worry for her newest friend overcame the urge to stay hidden and Sakura shouted "Run away Naruko! He's going to kill you!"

"Huh?!" Naruko said as she started to turn around.

"Too late." Kakashi said and gained an evil gleam in his eye as he proclaimed "Konohagakure Hiden-Taijutsu Ougi-Sennen Goroshi!" and poked Naruko full power in the ass. There was a full second before it seemed to register what had happened as Naruko's face turned an odd shade of blue before she rocketed of and landed in the nearby lake.

"_That was definitely not ninjutsu let alone a `supreme technique`, I guess I worried for nothing. He will pay though for doing something like that to another girl though. I'll make sure of that!"_ Sakura thought causing a sudden and unexplainable chill to go down Kakashi's spine.

"_What the hell?! Another complete idiot?!"_ Sasuke thought furiously, _"It's not like we need another one and this one doesn't look nearly as cute as the other one."_ A moment passed before Sasuke registered what had been said in his mind and he hit his head on a nearby tree, _"WTF?! Where the hell do those thoughts keep coming from. I can't believe I even _thought_ the word cute let alone apply it to the dobe!"_

Sasuke's tortured thoughts were interrupted when two shuriken flew out of water straight towards Kakashi but he just caught them on his fingers once again without looking away from his book.

All three of them heard some sort of muffled words that sounded strangely like "Damn it" accompanied with a few more bubbles the was normal.

Naruko meanwhile was underwater thinking of the events that happened with Mizuki and was reminded of one simple thing. _"I _can't_ fail!" _and made the sign for Kage Bunshin. Naruko then burst out of the water onto the ground and started breathing hard.

"That was sexual harassment Kakashi-sensei!" Naruko shouted angrily pointing at him.

"Meh, it wouldn't have been if you had dodged it. You know for someone that wants to surpass the Hokages you're pretty weak." Kakashi said countered blandly.

"Damn it this wouldn't be so hard if I wasn't so hungry!" Naruko shouted back as her stomach growled in hunger. Almost as in response Sasuke's and Sakura's stomachs both growled too. Kakashi still didn't look up from his book and Naruko started to get even angrier.

"I'll force you to accept me Kakashi-sensei!" and she threw two more shuriken as ten more Kage Bunshins jumped out of the water. Kakashi dodged the shuriken and turned to face the charging Narukos.

"_Are those solid clones?! If they are that's way beyond genin level!"_ Sakura thought impressed. And although Sasuke would've rather died than admit it he was impressed too.

"I would've think by now that you would realize a head attack won't work." Just as the Narukos reached him he felt two pairs of legs wrap around his and two pairs hands holding his arms. Two more Narukos had gotten behind him and grabbed his arms and legs. Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise and asked shocked "Where did those two come from?!"

"HA! I thought you weren't supposed to let your enemy get behind you Kakashi-sensei! Those weren't shuriken that I threw I transform two Kage Bunshins so that they could catch you when you lowered your guard!" Naruko gloated. "Now to pay you back for attack of yours Kakashi-sensei!" Naruko shouted rearing back her fist and punching…a clone? _"What the hell?! When did he do a Kawarimi?"_ Naruko thought wildly.

"AH!" shouted one of the clones. "One of you must be Kakashi in disguise!" and punched one of the other clones. "STOP!" shouted the original. "Won't we find out if he's in disguise if the rest of you dispel?" This statement was greeted with a chorus of agreement and nodding. "Well what are you guys waiting for?" the original asked impatiently and with that they dispelled. "Why are they so stupid?" Naruko wondered despairingly.

Naruko then noticed something shiny on the ground near her and looked at it more closely to reveal that it was a bell. Naruko without even really paying attention threw two kunai and activated the two snares placed there by Kakashi.

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei you're going to have to do better than that to get me caught in a trap. I've been making traps like those since I could crawl, dattebayo!" Naruko said as she reached down to pick up the bell when a poof of smoke obscured it. In its place now stood Kakashi giving his little eye-smile.

"You're not the only one who can transform a Kage Bunshin Naruko-chan. You've really got to learn to look underneath the underneath." he said brightly then dispelled. Naruko screamed in frustration, her prey seemingly escaping her clutches.

"_Well that's enough fun with her, time to play with the others…"_ Kakashi thought happily.

* * *

A little while later Sakura was running through the trees trying desperately to think. _"What can I do, what can I do? He's a JOUNIN! There's no way any one of us can-"_ Sakura started to think but realization hit her. _"He doesn't want us to work alone…he wants to work as a team. What the hell was I thinking?! I knew for a fact that there has never been a team with two genin on it!"_ Sakura thought berating herself.

"Naruko, Sasuke-kun! Where are you guys?" she asked quietly.

"Otherwise occupied." a voice answered her.

Sakura whirled around to see Kakashi holding his hands in a seal and then there was a swirl of leaves and her surroundings changed. She looked around quickly and nodded her head as if confirming something when she heard a voice. She turned around and saw Sasuke riddled with kunai and shuriken.

"Sa-Sakura…h-help me…" Sasuke said weakly. Sakura's eyes went wide and she let out a scream and she collapsed on the ground.

"Maybe I overdid it a bit." Kakashi thought out loud while turning a page in his book. "Nah, she should've seen through it. Well time to check out the 'genius'" Kakashi concluded.

* * *

Over with Sasuke he heard Sakura's scream and thought excitedly _"My turn."_

"Shinobi Battle Tactic 2: Genjutsu. She fell for it rather easily don't you think?" Kakashi said appearing suddenly without making any noise.

"An illusion? I can see that happening to her, but you're going to see that I'm different from those two." Sasuke said confidently.

"Of course you are. You've got different 'equipment' than they do don't you Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi asked lazily. Sasuke's eye twitched but didn't rush in blindly. Instead he threw several kunai and shuriken.

"Attacks like that aren't going to work." Kakashi said as he dodged them and put away his book. He didn't really need to but he didn't want the brat to get lucky and land a hit on his precious. Sasuke smirked and threw another kunai and cut a rope which caused several more kunai and shuriken to fly at Kakashi..

"A trap?!" he said while dodging. "Not as good as Naruko's, but not bad Sasuke." Kakashi taunted as he slid to a stop. Then suddenly Sasuke was behind him launching a kick at his head. Kakashi caught it easily but Sasuke wasn't done he twisted his body and punched at Kakashi's face which Kakashi blocked as well. Sasuke still had another attack in him and flipped his body over tried to kick Kakashi in the head which Kakashi blocked again. Now that he was upside down Sasuke smirked and made a grab for the bell. He managed to get a finger on it before Kakashi's eye widened and he pushed Sasuke away.

"_Just great he's good. Now I don't have the time to read Icha Icha Paradise…"_ Kakashi thought sadly. "I'll admit your different from those two." Kakashi said grudgingly. To this Sasuke responded by going through a series of hand seals. _"Crap! Another genin with more chakra than they should have!"_ Kakashi thought frantically.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted out and a huge fireball consumed the spot that Kakashi was at. Keyword there: was. After the flames died down Sasuke saw no sign of Kakashi near the charred ground or anywhere else for that matter.

"_Where is he going to strike from…" _Sasuke wondered _"Front, left, right, behind, up? Where will it be?"_

"Beneath you." a voice said before a hand shot up from the ground to grab Sasuke's leg.

"Doton: Shinjuuzanshu no Jutsu!" and Sasuke was pulled into the ground with only his head showing. "Shinobi Battle Tactic 3: Ninjutsu. How did you like it?" Kakashi asked with an eye-smile, but only received a glare in return. Kakashi the turned around and walked away and heard Sasuke grunt and say "Damn it."

* * *

In a wooded area of the training ground Naruko stood up wiping the sweat off her face and said "Perfect. Now all I need to is get Kakashi here and then we'll see who's weak, MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruko laughed maniacally.

A voice behind interrupted her evil laughter and asked "Whatcha doin'?"

Naruko stopped laughing and responded without thinking, "Building a trap for my perverted sensei."

"Oh, I see." the voice said. Naruko stiffened just now realizing what was happening turned around slowly to see Kakashi in the posture for Sennen Goroshi. Naruko screamed and jumped away. Unfortunately she jumped straight into her own trap and kunai rained down on her and she jumped the only direction that the trap was designed to let you jump and landed straight into a snare. It caught her and flung her into another snare that grabbed both of her flailing hands. The result was Naruko being suspended between two trees looking ridiculous.

"Quite the elaborate trap Naruko-chan." Kakashi said eye-smiling, "There were only two problems with it. Number one: You don't tell your enemies they are about to fall into a trap. And number two: Don't fall into your own traps." he finished sounding highly amused and then he poofed away.

"DAMN IT!" Naruko shouted. She probably would have indulged in several more violent curses if Sakura had not picked that moment to show up. Sakura stood there stunned. Did she really want to know how Naruko ended up in that position? Deciding against it she opted for just cutting her free.

"Thanks Sakura-chan!" Naruko said loudly while rubbing her wrists. "Ne, Sakura-chan why did you scream earlier? It had me worried, I thought maybe he had gotten you with that perverted jutsu of his." Naruko asked and they both shuddered.

"No, I was just pretending to get caught in his genjutsu so that he would leave me alone. I needed him to leave me alone so that I could find you and Sasuke. I figured out the point of this test!" Sakura said excitedly.

"What are you talking about? The point is to get the bells." Naruko said confused.

"No, it isn't! Baka think about!" Sakura said loudly. Naruko started to but it looked painful so Sakura decided to help her out. "This test is designed to test our teamwork. I mean how many genin teams have only two genin on them? Besides there's no way that three genin could beat a Jounin if he was serious, so what does that say about one genin?"

Naruko thought about it and had to agree, "Okay then so lets go find the Bastard and then we'll beat his ass, dattebayo!" Naruko exclaimed, Sakura smacked her playfully on the head and said "Don't call Sasuke-kun a bastard, baka." Naruko gave a fox-like smile and they both rushed off to find Sasuke.

* * *

"HAHAHAHA! This is too good!" Naruko laughed upon seeing Sasuke's predicament.

"Shut it dobe, you looked a lot worse when he poked you in you in the ass!" Sasuke shouted surprising both Naruko and Sakura, seeing as in all the years they had know Sasuke he had _never_ raised his voice let alone shout.

Even Sasuke was mildly shocked as well. _"Just great I've been around the dobe too much. She's starting to rub off on me…"_ Sasuke thought irritably.

"Well teme, what do you think about having us dig you out?" Naruko asked grinning widely. Sasuke glared at her but didn't say anything.

"Stop teasing and start digging." Sakura snapped at Naruko. Naruko made the sign for Kage Bunshin muttering what sounded a lot like "slave-driver". After Sasuke was freed they had moved out of the open back into the forest and Sakura finished explained her idea Sasuke said stubbornly, "I don't need your help to fight him."

"Baka! This isn't about you or your skill here. This is about the point of the test!" Sakura shouted at him. Realizing what she just did she squeaked and covered her mouth. Naruko and Sasuke were looking at her in shock.

"Way to tell him Sakura-chan, dattebayo!" Naruko exclaimed approvingly.

Sasuke finally was done processing what happened and realized that if Sakura was serious enough about this to actually call him an idiot there _had_ to be some merit to her words. "I guess you could be right. It seems the sort of thing he would think of. You know that whole 'look underneath the underneath' thing." Sasuke said grudgingly. "So did you two have any sort of plan before you came over here?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura's mouth dropped open, she clearly had not thought that far ahead. Naruko on the other hand raised her hand sheepishly, "Well I've got a method of restraining him that he won't be able to get free from, but if I just went and did it he would notice it right away…" she said quietly.

"What do you need to make it so that he won't notice it?" Sakura asked.

"Well if either of you two could use a genjutsu to make a clearing look exactly like it normally would, that should be enough. I can't do a genjutsu to save my life. Literally." Naruko told them.

"I can do that much." Sakura said meekly "I've learned a couple non-academy genjutsus from my aunt." she explained in answer to their questioning looks.

"Okay then, problem one solved. Next I need someone to bring him to the trap." Naruko said looking blatantly at Sasuke.

"Not that I mind, but why me and not your clones?" Sasuke asked confused. Naruko muttered something too quietly to be heard. "What?" Sasuke asked even more confused now.

"They're not strong enough alright!" Naruko repeated loudly. "They're not enough of a threat to move him. You are." Naruko admitted grudgingly.

Sasuke gave a satisfied smirk and asked smugly "How much time do you need?"

Naruko glared at him, but said "Give me ten minutes. Got that Bastard?"

Sasuke just waved his hand over his shoulder as he walked away and said "One delivery coming right up dobe."

Naruko pulled a kunai out of her pouch and said, "Time to get started."

* * *

Kakashi was leaning against a tree near the lake when he heard the sound of shuriken flying through the air. He dodged without thinking and put away his precious. He turned to see Sasuke charging at him with a kunai. He tried to dodge to the left but Sasuke threw some more shuriken to intercept him so he was forced to move to his right.

"_He's obviously trying to herd me somewhere. Meh, might as well play along to see what he's got."_ Kakashi concluded lazily. After a couple of minutes Kakashi found himself entering a clearing. He immediately noticed that there was a genjutsu on the trees and the ground. _"Well what do you know? Sasuke's working with Sakura. Didn't see that one coming."_ Kakashi thought surprised. "You don't think that if you just work together you'll be able to get the bells do you?" Kakashi asked waiting for this to play out before passing judgment.

Suddenly a smoke bomb went off in the clearing and Kakashi heard Naruko's voice "Ne Kakashi-sensei you seem to have to have forgotten something."

"_So they finally understand the point of the test. Here I was thinking that I'd be tying one of them to the stump."_ Kakashi thought. "Oh? And what exactly is that Naruko-chan?" Kakashi asked.

"Shinobi Battle Tactic 4: Fuuinjutsu: Yonkusari no Seichuu!" Naruko shouted. Kakashi found both his arms and legs bound as if chains, he tried to move them but to no avail. He also felt a tug at his waist and realized that they had actually gotten the bells.

The smoke finally cleared to reveal Naruko kneeling on the ground with chakra pumping through her hands in a large quantity, Sakura in a tree with her hands in a seal, and lastly Sasuke holding out the bells. Sakura then released her seal and revealed four trees that had writing on them, and along the ground from the four trees ending in a larger seal written under Naruko's hands. Extending from the trees themselves were what looked like actual chains of chakra that coiled around each of his limbs.

"You pass." Kakashi said simply with yet another of his little eye-smiles.

Naruko stopped channeling chakra into the seal and jumped cheering only to collapse back on the ground with swirls in her eyes.

"Okay then would someone like to explain how this came to be?" Kakashi asked sounding interested for once. Sakura launched into her explanation of how she had figured out the true purpose of the exam and how she recruited Naruko and Sasuke.

"That's great but that still doesn't explain how Naruko did that jutsu, I've never heard of it before." Kakashi said still confused.

Naruko who had recovered a bit by this point said, "Well I'd be really surprised and annoyed if you had. I made it." she answered.

At first only silence answered her then Kakashi said slowly, "Let me get this straight, you know how to design and use seals but you can't pass the written test to become a genin?"

Naruko nodded her head like that shouldn't come as a surprise. _"Great. Now I can't tell if she's an idiot or a genius. But if she's telling the truth that would be amazing. A seal user with that kind of potential might even be able to surpass Sensei and Jiraiya-sama…"_ Kakashi thought in wonder. He looked closer at the seals and realized they were written in looked like red ink.

"Naruko, you didn't use your blood for this did you?" Kakashi asked shocked, the amount of blood loss should've left her unconscious.

"Um, yeah I did, I didn't bring my sealing ink with me today because I didn't think I'd need it." Naruko said sounding annoyed. "NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!"

Kakashi was still slightly stunned, but decided to move on, it was a problem for another time. "So Sakura noticed the true purpose of the exam and performed an essential genjutsu, Naruko came up with the plan and nearly killed herself pulling it off, and Sasuke had to fight with me." Kakashi listed off and the three genin nodded. "Well it seems like you do have what it takes to be a team. Just always remember a ninja that doesn't obey the rules is considered trash but those who abandon their friends are even worse than trash." Kakashi told them seriously, and the three genin nodded again. "Great now who wants to go out for a celebratory dinner. On me." Kakashi asked eye-smiling.

"YES! LET"S GET RAMEN, DATTEBAYO!" Naruko shouted.

Sakura smacked Naruko and told her, "No way ramen is too fattening, let's go somewhere that serves salads."

"RAMEN!"

"SALAD!""RAMEN!"

"SALAD!"

"Bastard/Sasuke-kun where should we go." they asked together. Sasuke who had been trying to leave quietly was trapped.

"Onigiri." he said both to avoid showing favor to either kunoichi and to assert his position of onigiri being the best food.

This would have gone on long past dinner had Kakashi not stepped in and made the decision of barbeque.

* * *

When they reached the barbeque restaurant Naruko stopped outside the door. It was one of the restaurants that wouldn't serve her because of the Kyuubi.

"On second thought you guys go on without me. I'm not that hungry." she lied loudly to cover up her growling stomach. The other two genin looked at Naruko in surprise while Kakashi looked at her in sympathy.

"What are you talking about dobe? You've been whining about being hungry all day." Sasuke said confused.

"Yeah, Naruko we even got Sasuke to come. Just come in with us if you're really not hungry." Sakura said trying to convince her.

"JUST MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS WILL YOU!" Naruko shouted and started to run away but Kakashi grabbed her arm. Sasuke and Sakura both looked shocked by her outburst.

"It'll be alright Naruko-chan. Trust me." Kakashi said softly with an eye-smile. Naruko stiffened but nodded. The other two genin watched Naruko confused, but something about Naruko's face stopped them from asking. In it they could see a mixture of fear and hate that she was desperately trying to hide.

They went into the restaurant and the host instantly greeted them. "Hello how may I help you today?" he asked but then he spotted Naruko who was hiding behind Kakashi and trying to make herself appear as small as possible. He glared at Naruko and she flinched.

"I don't have a problem with you three but _it_ will have to leave." the man said hatefully, and Naruko flinched again. Sasuke and Sakura were shocked and angry at his tone (Sakura much more so than Sasuke).

"_What the hell is that for? She may be an annoying prankster but she doesn't deserve that!"_ Sakura thought angrily.

"_What did he mean by _it_?"_ Sasuke wondered.

"Hehe, well I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then." she said in a falsely cheery voice as she tried to bolt, but Kakashi stopped her again. She looked at him pleadingly, but he just shook his head.

"We're a team we don't abandon one another ever." he said to Naruko. To the other man he said, "I sincerely suggest you reconsider or I'll have to speak to the Hokage about the mistreatment of a Konoha kunoichi."

The man paled and looked angry but he nodded and gestured for them to enter. They went to a booth and sat down. Naruko was very subdued, but like usual Sasuke asked bluntly, "What was that about dobe?"

When Naruko didn't answer Kakashi stepped in and said, "She'll tell you eventually. Just give her time." Neither Sasuke nor Sakura were happy with that answer but they could tell that they weren't going to get anything else from either of them. As the minutes passed they all seemed to loosen up and enjoy themselves. Naruko was a bit quieter than normal but there were no other obvious signs of stress in the group. They ate their meal and left.

Kakashi turned to his team and said "Be at the training grounds tomorrow at eight o'clock tomorrow to start training." He said then poofed away.

"You know I'm really starting to hate when he does that." Naruko said irritably. "So what are you guys going to do for the rest of the day?" she asked.

"My aunt is giving me a lesson in medical jutsu." Sakura said excitedly.

"Training." Sasuke grunted.

"Great well I guess I'll see you two tomorrow." Naruko said and they all went their separate ways. Later that night as Naruko laid down to go to bed she thought about the day and a small smile played across her lips. Life was definitely looking like it was going to change for the better.

* * *

**Well there you are. Shinobi Battle Tactic 4 is Fuuinjutsu and Naruko is a genius at it. I plan on going into detail on how sealing works in the next chapter, but I don't plan on making it a complicated formula sort of thing. That seems stupid, because then anyone could make seals if they knew math. It's going to be much more along the lines of needing a certain creative spark that not everyone has. Sure anyone can copy a seal but only a few people can **_**make**_** them. **

**Also I found it amusing to make Naruko more violent and conniving. She is a great deal like Anko and it's going to be amusing to have them meet.**

**Nakimushi: Crybaby**

**Goukakyuu: Great Fireball**

**Yonkusari no Seichuu: Four Chains of Restriction**

**If you've got any questions put them in a review and I'll answer them the best that I can. Like always comments and criticisms are welcome. Flamers…life is too short to be so annoying so why bother. **


	4. Welcome to Hell

**Well this is Chapter 3. I don't know if it'll be as good as the other chapters because those I had extensively planned. This not so much. **

* * *

Welcome To Hell

The next morning dawned bright and too early for Naruko. Looking at her blaring alarm clock with a remarkable amount of killing intent she reached out and threw the accursed thing out the window. She then laid back down with a contented sigh. She was just about to fall back asleep when someone banged on her door. She ignored it hoping that they would just go away, but to her dismay it kept going.

She grumbled and stood up yelling "I'm coming already!" she stumbled through the maze that was her room falling once. Muttering a few curses she finally reached the door and opened yelling "What do you want?!"

She was greeted by a glaring Sasuke, with a rather large bump on his head, holding an alarm clock. His glare turned to surprise when he recognized Naruko. It took him a second because she was dressed far differently from her usual look. Instead of the trademark orange jumpsuit she was simply wearing an over-large black shirt that had an orange spiral in front and was hanging off one shoulder. Her normal pigtails were gone too and her hair was messy with bits of it standing up in odd areas.

"Well? What do you want Bastard?" Naruko asked stretching. As she did so her shirt lifted up to reveal toad-print panties. Sasuke got a small nosebleed that he hastily wiped away while she was yawning. "Aren't you a little old for something like that?" Sasuke asked unable to stop himself.

Naruko looked down and realized what he talking about and reacted instinctively, "ERO-UCHIHA!" and slapped him five feet to the left.

After Sasuke regained consciousness and Naruko had made herself more presentable they continued where they left off. "So what did you need so badly that you felt the need to wake me up? Was it that realized how madly in love you are with me and you couldn't wait to let me know?" Naruko asked sarcastically.

Sasuke blushed ever so slightly and responded, "You wish dobe. No, Sakura and I agreed to meet here today so that we could talk to you."

Naruko started getting nervous. _"Please, please tell me that they don't want to talk about what happened yesterday."_ She thought frantically. "Yeah what about?" She asked defensively.

Sasuke glared at her tone but answered, "We came to an agreement yesterday about something regarding you being on our team."

"Well what is it already!?" Naruko shouted finally loosing her already limited patience.

"If you're going to be on the team you're going to have to lose the jumpsuit. It's an eyesore." Sasuke said bluntly.

There were a few seconds of silence where Naruko could only gape like a fish. "NEVER!" she shouted while jumping away from him.

"Why not? It's bright orange and attracts enemy attention, you should be glad to get rid of it." Sasuke pointed out.

"Because I don't want to!" she shouted back making a lunge for the door but ran into a wall where the door was supposed to be.

"Sakura's got a genjutsu on your door. You're not getting out of here until you agree to change your outfit." Sasuke told her with a smirk thinking that they had her cornered. The problem with this plan was that people always fight harder when they are cornered.

"NEVER!" Naruko shouted again, jumping through the closed window shattering it, and leaving behind Sasuke with his mouth open in disbelief. Sakura walked into the room, after removing the genjutsu, with a similar expression.

"That's a bit of overkill don't you think?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"No kidding, but how are we going to catch her now?" Sasuke asked. "I heard she's able to avoid most ANBU when she really doesn't want them to find her."

Sakura shifted nervously at his words which Sasuke noticed. "What are you thinking?" he asked suspiciously.

Sakura shook her head keeping her lips tightly shut. Sasuke was starting to get irritated with her…again. "If you know how to catch the Orange Wonder tell me so we can get this over with." Sasuke growled.

Sakura scratched her cheek embarrassed, "Well the girls in our age group have a highly advanced information and tracking system in Konoha…" Sakura mumbled.

Sasuke's eye twitched, "What was it made to track?" he asked already guessing the answer.

"If anyone asks who told you about this it wasn't me got it" Sakura said her cheeks red. Sasuke nodded and Sakura muttered "You."

"_Son of a bitch! _**THAT"S**_ how they always were able to stalk me no matter where I went! I definitely have put a stop to this horrible organization!"_ Sasuke thought furiously. "So how are you going to convince the rabid fan-girls to find a _girl_ instead of me?" he asked darkly.

At this Sakura became even more nervous and started twiddling her thumbs. "Yeah about that…I won't be able to." she told him

Sasuke's eye twitched again. "Then what was the point of bringing it up?" his said his voice starting to get louder.

"I said I can't…but you might be able to convince them." Sakura said really fast as though if she said it faster it would be less horrible to hear.

"Not happening." Sasuke deadpanned and turned around intending to leave

Sakura seemed close to desperation, "Think about it Sasuke-kun. Would you rather look at that blindingly orange jumpsuit for who knows however many months?"

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks. He quickly started measuring the pros and cons. _"On one hand I acknowledge the network of fan-girls as a legitimate group and on the other I deal with that _stupid_ jumpsuit…crap."_ Sasuke thought gradually depressing himself.

"Fine I'll do it." Sasuke growled

Sakura squealed a little. She was finally getting to help Sasuke-kun with something, and that did not happen very often as he was extremely independent. "Okay the first thing we have to do is find Ino." she said enthusiastically.

Sasuke groaned and asked, "And why do we have to find that harpy?" Normally Sasuke would have applied the term to Sakura too, but now that he had seen she had enough of a backbone to stand up to him and call him an idiot she had been elevated to "that annoying girl" status.

Sakura blinked confusedly at him. "You're kidding right? You do know that she is the villages most notorious gossip don't you? Anything she hears is made public knowledge in less than an hour." she told him as though he were a little slow.

Sasuke flushed angrily and said "Whatever just get on with it."

* * *

An hour later Sasuke's eye was twitching yet again. In front of him stood a large group of girls. "How many of you are there?" he asked incredulously.

"Well at the last count; ninety-six, the number that's here: eighty. That is nearly our entire age group. The remaining fifty is split between a genin a year older than us called Hyuuga Neji and those with no affiliations. And that is about a thirty-twenty split. Neji's group is led by a girl named Tenten and are considered a much more conservative group than ours. The second group has notable members such as Naruko and Hinata who just seem to want to be left alone." Sakura answered him lengthily.

"This is crazy, but not that important. How long will it take them to find Naruko? I don't want to spend all day doing this. Remember Kakashi will be there around eleven if we figured him out properly." Sasuke reminded her.

"Right!" Sakura said and then turned to address the crowd. She suddenly changed her demeanor and for a second Sasuke imagined Sakura as a general giving orders to her troops. "All right you lot here is the situation: Uzumaki Naruko is on mine and Sasuke-kun's genin team-" she was interrupted by a groan, "QUIET! I know you don't like it but deal with it. Anyway Sasuke-kun does not want to have to look at that annoying jumpsuit for who knows how long and told her to change it." Sakura stopped as a round of applause started. NO ONE liked looking at that stupid thing. It was an insult to girls everywhere. "Yeah, I know I felt the same way. However Naruko made a break for it and jumped out her window." a pause for another loud groan, "That's why Sasuke-kun is here to personally request your help." Sakura finished grandly moving aside so that they could see Sasuke.

A deafening squeal greeted him as he took a step forward. With ringing ears Sasuke muttered, "Just find her so that we can get her out of that stupid jumpsuit."

"HAI SASUKE-SAMA!" they shouted in unison.

"Alright, Alpha Squad take the south. Beta you take west. Gamma north. Sigma east. Omega activate the sleeper cells. You have your mission go." Sakura said dismissing them with a wave of her arm eerily similar to how the Hokage does, and they all disappeared even the girls that weren't ninjas.

"How come they call me Sasuke-sama and you call me Sasuke-kun?" he asked with some trepidation.

She blinked and said, "My rank is higher than theirs."

"_Scratch that like a general crap. She _is _a general!"_ Sasuke thought with a sweat drop.

* * *

Naruko looked around from on top of the building she was on. _"Hmph, I wouldn't of expected Bastard to give up this quickly. It's only been what, an hour?"_ Naruko thought dejectedly.

All of a sudden she heard the sound of fast movement and then she saw three girls land on the building. They all were looking a little tired from their exertion which showed Naruko they weren't fully trained but had probably gone through the academy for a little while.

"The hell? What do you three want?" Naruko asked confused. It was not normal for anyone her age or hell anyone for that matter to come up to talk to her.

"Sakura-taichou sent us to find you, Uzumaki." said the one in the middle. "Sasuke-sama wants to speak with you." the one on the left added. "They told us you refused to comply with Sasuke-sama's wish to get rid of the jumpsuit." the last one finished.

Naruko's eyes narrowed in anger. "So Bastard decided that he was too good to look for me and let his fan-girls do it for him instead. Fine if he wants to play dirty, I can play dirty." she said dramatically. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruko shouted but she wasn't done. Her clone shouted, "Oiroke no Jutsu: Sasuke-teme Version!" and a puff of smoke later a nearly nude Sasuke was looking all dark and broody. The Henged clone grunted and turned away. All three of the girls, whose thought processing abilities immediately flew out the window, squealed and started chasing after the clone who had started running through the streets.

"_Poor deluded fan-girls. So easy to manipulate…"_ Naruko thought with a slightly manic gleam in her eyes. Walking away from what was swiftly becoming a very pathetic scene Naruko jumped from building to building to get away. Unfortunately for her ten more fan-girls showed up and surrounded her.

"How many of you are there?" Naruko asked exasperatedly. She was starting to get tired of the fan-girls already and more importantly she was starting to get hungry. Maybe when she could get away she could get ramen. Hmm, delicious ramen…

"Escape is impossible Uzumaki, there are way more of us then there are of you." one said (poor naïve girl). Naruko scoffed, if she could fool and escape from ANBU what chance did these pathetic fan-girls have?

"I'm never out-numbered, dattebayo! Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and ten clones materialized each holding their hands in a seal. "Harem no Jutsu: Sasuke-teme Version!" the clones shouted each falling under the influence of the Oiroke no Jutsu. The effect was immediate, with half of the girls passing out from nosebleeds and the rest squealing in fan-girlish delight. Nodding in satisfaction at the results Naruko turned away to escape again. Once more she confronted by fan-girls after going only a few buildings away.

Naruko sighed in exasperation, "Today's going to be a long day…"

* * *

Meanwhile Sasuke and Sakura were heading to the academy. They had just left the fan-girl army when Sasuke remembered an important fact. Every time that Naruko did something particularly stupid especially during class time Iruka was always able to drag her back. They found Iruka in their old classroom packing away the things in his desk.

"Iruka-sensei what are you doing?" Sakura asked momentarily forgetting why they had come to see him.

Iruka looked up from his desk and smiled broadly, "Oh, Sasuke and Sakura it's nice to see you passed Kakashi's test. I'm going to be helping the Hokage assign missions. I've got to say I didn't expect to see you guys again so soon. Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked looking between the two.

"Actually there is something with Naruko-" Sakura started but Iruka interrupted with a loud sigh and asked. "What did she do this time? Paint? Itching powder?"

"No nothing like that. It's more like what we need her to do. Earlier we went by Naruko's apartment and tried to convince her to get rid of her jumpsuit, but she ran away. We've got a new plan laid out but first we need you to tell us where her favorite ramen stand is." Sakura told him.

Iruka brought his hand to his chin looking thoughtful, "I guess I can tell you but first I have a question that I'd like you to answer."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"What do you think Naruko's jumpsuit means to her?" Iruka asked in return.

"What do you mean 'what does it mean to her'? She just has an unhealthy obsession with orange." Sasuke answered simply.

Iruka shook his head, "You don't understand what I'm asking. I'm asking why she wears such a bright and eye-grabbing color." he told them. When both of them stared blankly back at him he sighed and started to explain, "Naruko has always been alone and ignored. As an orphan she's had no parents to love her and until she met Hinata she had had no friends in her life either. So she has always tried to get attention by any means necessary like pulling all of those pranks she's now famous for. That jumpsuit of hers is another way to get attention. She probably doesn't even realize how much she loves the fact that you guys are chasing after her just to get her to change her clothes. It's a game of tag and hide and seek that she never got to play when she was younger." Iruka informed them in detail.

Both the genin of Team Seven looked at him in surprise. They both had been thinking that she was just being stubborn. Neither of them had bothered to think _why_ Naruko had been acting the way she had.

Iruka looked at Sasuke with an odd gleam in his eye. "Plus, I think she likes being chased."

Sasuke looked at him perplexed. He had no idea what Iruka was talking about. Sakura on the other hand blushed and said to Iruka, "NO WAY is that going to happen! Not on my watch!" she huffed and grabbed Sasuke's arm and dragged him away. Sasuke had been too surprised to put up any sort of resistance and by the time he tried Sakura's grip was too tight to break.

As they were leaving Iruka chuckled and said "Naruko's favorite ramen stand is Ichiraku's. She'd eat there every meal of the day if she had any choice in the matter. Even if she was being chased by ANBU she'll be there for her next meal."

* * *

"_I officially hate all fan-girls."_ Naruko thought viciously. For the past hour she had been dodging fan-girls with combinations of traps, the Oiroke no Jutsu, and Kage Bunshins. It was nine o'clock and she still hadn't had her morning ramen and it was all Sasuke-teme's fault.

She walked into Ichiraku's and called out, "Morning Jiji, Ayame-nee-chan! I'm here for the Naruko Breakfast Special." when no one answered her back she looked around. It was odd that they weren't there waiting to welcome in customers. Her fears that something had happened to them were put to rest as they both came out of the back.

"Morning Naruko-chan! You're a little late today aren't you?" Teuchi asked in just a little too happy of a voice.

"Yeah I've been dodging Sasuke-teme's fan-girls for the past hour, dattebayo!" she said irritably.

"Sasuke? As in Uchiha Sasuke?" Ayame asked tilting her head in confusion. When Naruko nodded Ayame smiled slyly and asked "What did you do to get on their bad side? Did you make a move on Sasuke or something?"

Naruko stared at her blankly trying to comprehend what Ayame had just asked. When her brain finally started functioning again she spluttered and shouted, "NEVER! I WOULD SOONER GIVE UP RAMEN THEN DATE HIM!" Teuchi gasped in fear, he didn't want to even think about a world where Naruko didn't eat ramen.

Naruko panted angrily. She had never been so insulted! "_Why would anybody like him? He's completely arrogant, perverted, narcissistic, talented, cool, good-looking. Wait what was I thinking about again?"_ she thought.

"Aww, look who's blushing!" Ayame cooed happily.

Naruko spluttered and blushed even harder. "NEE-CHAN! Stop it! I don't like him at all! Jiji one miso ramen!" Naruko shouted to distract Ayame from making up a relationship where there obviously wasn't one.

Teuchi however was already placing the bowl on the counter. "Here you go Naruko-chan this one's on the house." Naruko stared suspiciously at the ramen for the moment before Teuchi said "It sounds like you've had a rough morning and you could use it." Naruko's face immediately changed to one of immense happiness, "Thanks a bunch Jiji, dattebayo! Itadakimasu!" and broke apart her chopsticks. She, for lack of a better term, inhaled the ramen at speeds that shouldn't be achievable by human beings.

Suddenly she dropped her chop sticks. She looked at them then at her hand. "Jiji there's something wrong with my hand. It won't hold the chopsticks and it feels fuzzy."

"Don't worry Naruko that means its working." she heard a voice say. She jumped up to run but the numbness had reached her legs by this point so all she could do was fall to the ground. She looked around to see Sakura entering the stand. She felt a slight pang of disappointment that it wasn't Sasuke that found her. After all what was the point of antagonizing him if he couldn't at least chase her?

"Where's Bastard? I would've expected to see him come by to gloat." Naruko said her tongue starting to feel fuzzy. Sakura just pulled her up and put Naruko's arm over her shoulder to support her dead weight.

"Sasuke-kun? He's off doing something…" Sakura answered vaguely.

Naruko's eye twitched. "Would you mind explaining to me what you did?! Still can't feel my body over here!" Naruko said hotly.

"Oh that. I drugged you." Sakura said without a hint of remorse.

"WHAT?!" Naruko shouted. She was almost foaming at the mouth as she asked, "How did you do that?! You aren't good enough at stealth to sneak up on me, dattebayo!"

Sakura tilted her head to the side and responded, "I know that's why I asked them to do it." she said nodding her head at Teuchi and Ayame.

Naruko looked at them with hurt and betrayal in her eyes and they both fidgeted around guiltily. "It's for the best Naruko. We don't want to risk you getting hurt just because you stood out more than the others. When we heard what they were doing how could we refuse to help knowing that it will help keep you a little bit safer?" Ayame said with tears welling up in her eyes.

Naruko turned her head away and said loudly, "I guess there's no helping it. I might as well just go along with whatever this crazy pink head has to say." In a quieter voice she added, "Thanks…you know…for worrying and stuff…"

As Sakura carried her away Naruko turned and informed her, "I don't care what you say I'm not getting rid of all the orange."

"Hai, hai. Don't get your panties in a twist." Sakura responded. They had started to get a lot of curious looks from the passers-by. Sakura also noted the looks of anger and hatred that were thrown at Naruko. They weren't the sort of looks a person got from pulling one too many pranks, it was the look a person would give to a murderer that had killed someone in their family. Sakura noticed that Naruko was flinching every so often when a particularly harsh glare was sent her way. Instinctively Sakura tightened her grip on Naruko because she felt that if she left Naruko the way she was, drugged and unable to move, they might kill her. Sakura made her way to the nearest store in her shinobi instincts screaming at her to get out of the open.

"Not here." Naruko told her.

"Why not? Some of the people outside are looking close to murderous." Sakura said almost frantically.

"They won't let me in here." Naruko responded in a way that made it clear she wasn't going to elaborate on the subject. Grunting while repositioning Naruko, Sakura went back into the streets. They went past four more shops before finding one that Naruko could go into.

Sakura set Naruko into a changing room and said "I'd tell you not to move but at this point I don't think I'll need to." Naruko growled at her in response so Sakura said hurriedly "I'll be back with something for you to change into."

When Sakura went to get an outfit for her Naruko sat there for a second before stretching and rubbing her arms to get the feeling back in them. She had been starting to get feeling back for a while now, since around the second shop they passed.

Sakura returned with some clothes to see Naruko in the middle of a few stretches. She jumped in surprise, "How are you moving? The drug shouldn't have been through your system for another two hours at least."

Naruko tilted her head confused, "Are you sure? I started getting feeling back a couple of shops ago."

"That's not pos-Wait what?! You mean you could walk but you had me carry you instead?" Sakura asked a vein bulging in her forehead.

Naruko stuck her tongue out at her and said, "That's the least you could do for drugging me in the first place."

Sakura smacked her in the head, "Baka there was no other way to get you to stay still long enough!"

Naruko's eyes welled up with fake tears, "You're so mean Sakura-chan…"

Sakura harrumphed not buying the act in the slightest, "Well whatever, I want you to put this outfit on."

"No not enough orange." Naruko said pouting.

This went on for another two hours until they left the shop with Sakura carrying a bag that had Naruko's old jumpsuit in it. Naruko was now wearing black pants, and a jacket that was orange on the upper part of and on the arms and in a stripe down the middle with the rest of it black. There was also black spirals on both shoulders and another black spiral on the orange in the back **(Think the reverse of Naruto's Shippuden outfit)**.

They walked towards their training grounds with Naruko smiling brightly. This had been the first time she had gone shopping with a friend. She had never gone with Hinata even though Hinata had offered to sneak away to go with her. Naruko had refused because her father would have crucified the poor girl. Hinata simply had enough problems without Naruko making it worse.

"Thanks for going with me Sakura-chan! I had a lot of fun." Naruko said enthusiastically.

"It was nothing Naruko, if anybody should be grateful it's me. I'm really glad you're not holding it against me for drugging you." Sakura responded sheepishly.

"Nah, you were doing what you thought was-" she started to say but was interrupted as somebody bumped into her hard enough to knock her down. The man kept walking apparently not caring what he had done.

"Hey come back here and apologize to her!" Sakura shouted at him as she helped Naruko up.

The man turned around and looked at Naruko hatefully, "Who are talking about? I don't see anybody that needs apologizing to."

Naruko flinched and Sakura growled at the man and opened her mouth to rip him apart verbally when she felt a hand on her arm holding her back, "Sakura just stop. I'm used to- I mean it's not worth it." Naruko said with a pleading look in her eyes. Sakura snarled and turned around storming away with Naruko not far behind.

"How can you just ignore guys like that? I thought you were a girl that stood up for yourself." Sakura ranted, while Inner Sakura was maintaining the position, **"Shannaro, what I'd give to beat that bastard senseless!"**

Naruko looked away, but not before Sakura saw the anger in her eyes, "I don't need you to fight my battles for me Sakura. I've never needed anybody's help before and I don't need it now."

Sakura glared at her, "We're teammates now. We're supposed to help each other fight our battles. Being a team doesn't just mean we work together in missions, it means that we help each other out in other areas too. Now do you want to tell me what that was about?"

Naruko didn't respond. She did not want to tell Sakura about the Kyuubi, because she was enjoying having another friend too much and didn't feel like losing her just yet. On the other hand how would she react if she found out about it from somebody else? Would that make it worse?

Sakura sighed, "I know we haven't really known each other for that long but I hope you'll be able to trust me with whatever is bothering you. I want to help."

Naruko looked like she was about to cry, but she turned away and hastily wiped away the half-formed tears. Turning back to Sakura she smiled brightly and said, "Don't worry about it Sakura-chan, I'll tell you someday, dattebayo!"

Sakura looked at her a moment longer then nodded, "Well I think we should hurry or we'll be later than Kakashi-sensei."

Naruko shuddered at the thought and said, "Don't even joke about things like that."

They eventually made it to their training grounds and saw Sasuke waiting on a nearby bridge.

"Hey Bastard, where were you? Did you finally realize that I was so much better than you that you shouldn't even bother looking for me?" Naruko asked smugly.

"Not a chance I just had better things to do." Sasuke fired back.

Naruko's eye twitched. "More important things?! That's why you unleashed your fan-girls on me!" Naruko growled while stomping towards him angrily. At this point Kakashi arrived and looked like he was about to intervene when Sasuke took things out of his hands.

"Wow, a little touchy are we? Or is it just that time of the month already?" Sasuke taunted. Kakashi looked at Sasuke like he was the stupidest person he had seen in a long time.

At this Sakura started getting angry with Sasuke for the first time in her life. Naruko on the other hand just looked confused, "What the hell does the day of the month have to do with anything?" All three of them just stared at her. "What?" she asked defensively.

"Uh, Sakura-chan care to field this one?" Kakashi asked awkwardly. Sakura looked around desperately for someone to come to her rescue, and to her immense gratitude found someone. "Rin-obasan! We're over here."

Towards them walked a woman around Kakashi's age and had brown hair and purple markings on her cheeks. Kakashi began to sweat nervously, _"CRAP! How could I have forgotten? Of course it was Rin who taught Sakura. Who else would have taught a girl who wasn't even a genin medical jutsu?"_

"Kakashi…what are you teaching your students?" Rin asked dangerously.

At this Kakashi began to sweat even harder. "Nothing inappropriate I assure you Rin-chan. Sasuke-kun is still in need of an attitude adjustment that I haven't had the time to start yet but I'll get right on it while you answer Naruko-chan's question." Kakashi said hurriedly while grabbing Sasuke. He quickly performed a quick Shunshin leaving the girls alone. Rin took a deep breath and said, "Well Naruko-chan there comes a time in a girls' life when…" **(I may be a writer but I am**_** not**_** willing to write down this conversation for anything!)**.

Meanwhile with Kakashi and Sasuke they landed in a clearing with Sasuke a little disoriented from the rapid movement. Sasuke recovered quickly and asked, "What the hell was that for?"

"Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun…" Kakashi trailed off pityingly, "You must learn the fine art of interacting with women. Especially women that can and are trained to kill you in your sleep. There are certain things you _just do not say_. What you said back there is one of them."

Sasuke scoffed and started to walk away, but Kakashi grabbed his arm to stop him. "Not so fast Sasuke-kun, Rin wants me to teach you some manners."

Sasuke glared at him and said derisively, "If I didn't know better I would say you sounded scared of that woman Kakashi."

"I am." Kakashi deadpanned. Sasuke's eyes widened at Kakashi's admission. "She was my teammate a long time ago and the one who put this eye in." he said emptily as he lifted up his hitai-ite to show a Sharingan eye. Sasuke gasped and then looked angrily at Kakashi clearly demanding an explanation. Kakashi sighed and explained the mission where he had lost his original eye and his best friend.

"So let me get this straight. She took the eye out of Obito's head without damaging it and transplanted it into you, again without damaging it, all the while with enemies surrounding you with only basic medical supplies when she was thirteen." Sasuke summarized.

Kakashi nodded and said, "She is possibly the most talented medical ninja Konoha has produced after Tsunade-sama, surpassing Tsunade-sama's apprentice Shizune."

"I guess she's got a bit of talent then." Sasuke admitted grudgingly.

Kakashi's eye widened in fear, "Don't _ever_ let her hear you mock her skill! The last time I did that even as a joke she threatened to rearrange my body to make it female."

Sasuke actually looked a little scared by this, "Can she do that?" he asked his voice shaking.

Kakashi gripped Sasuke's shoulder, "I don't know but I do _not_ want to find out. So Sasuke what have you learned from this discussion."

"Women are psychos and you shouldn't give them a reason to maul you." Sasuke responded firmly.

Kakashi sweat dropped, "Close enough." he said deciding not to correct him since the girls were coming into the clearing. Sakura and Rin were looking embarrassed but Naruko was looking furious. She stalked towards Sasuke and reared her leg back and before he could react punted him in the balls.

"You'll never to do that to me, dattebayo!" she screeched at him and stomped of to start pounding on a poor defenseless tree.

Kakashi looked pityingly at him and asked, "Are you alright?"

Sasuke was curled up in the fetal position, cross-eyed from the pain, and in an octave much higher than normal squeaked, "Fuck you! The pain. THE PAIN IT BURNS!"

Kakashi turned to the girls and asked, " So what was the deal with that? I know what he said wasn't polite but that was a bit over the top wasn't it?"

The girls shuffled nervously, but Rin answered, "Well while we were telling her about puberty she asked where babies came from and…well we answered her. Her ears started to bleed when she heard, and she demanded to know why a girl would let a guy do that to her. My guess is she took out her anger about the idea on the first guy she saw." Looking down at Sasuke she asked, "You probably want me to heal that don't you?" Sasuke nodded not even caring that he was hurting his pride since that was nothing next to the blinding pain that wracked his body right then. Rin picked him up and took him into the bushes to preserve a bit of his dignity.

When Rin returned with a glaring Sasuke, Kakashi asked "So Rin what brought you here today?"

"Oh yeah I almost forgot about that." Rin said and before Kakashi could react kicked_ him_ in the balls too. "That's what you get for using Sensei's perverted jutsu on a girl, BAKA!" she shouted at him.

Sasuke flinched in sympathetic pain, but could only really think _"Better him than me. She looks like she kicks_ way_ harder than the dobe…"_

Kakashi could only make an odd squeaking noise in reply, so Rin continued "Other than that I was coming here to tell you that I would be training Sakura in medical jutsu when she wasn't being trained by you. Make sure you condition them all properly."

All three genin had confused looks on their faces as Rin walked away, _"What did she mean by conditioning?"_ they all thought uneasily. Kakashi who had been using a healing jutsu on himself sighed in relief. He may not be the best at medical jutsu but he knew enough to calm down the mind numbing agony down to an extremely painful throb.

"Now that that's out of the way how about we get started. I need to learn how good Naruko and Sakura are in taijutsu." Kakashi told them.

"What for Kakashi-sensei?" Naruko asked.

"Because in order to plan battle formations certain attributes are needed to make certain formations to work. If you have two speed specialists and one power specialist you would use a different strategy than one with two power specialists and one speed." Kakashi explained.

"Me first, me first!" Naruko said excitedly and took a sloppy taijutsu stance. The other two genin backed away and Naruko charged Kakashi and launched a kick at his stomach which Kakashi blocked easily. She dropped to the ground and pushed off in a hand spring with both her feet aimed for Kakashi's head which he dodged. As she went past she grabbed onto his shirt in an attempt to use her momentum to throw him but he broke her grip quickly. She landed back on the ground and jumped at him with her fist reared back to punch him in the head but he just grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground. This process went on for several more minutes before Kakashi was satisfied and called an end to the spar. Both Sasuke and Sakura were surprised to see that Naruko didn't even look tired after her long struggle against Kakashi.

"Naruko I have to say that was extremely sloppy, and I don't think you are particularly suited for taijutsu. I can train you in a style that emphasizes on kicks as that seems to suit you best. It will also come in handy for what I have planned for you to learn." Kakashi told her.

She looked upset when Kakashi had criticized her but when he told her that he was going to teach her something else instead she brightened up again, "Ooh, what is it?" she asked eagerly.

"I'll tell you in a bit if my hunch is correct." he told her with an eye smile. Naruko put on a pouting face and Kakashi said, "Sakura you're up next."

Sakura went into her stance a little nervously. It was a lot more solid than Naruko's but still not good enough for Kakashi. Sakura started off with a jab to Kakashi's head which he dodged with ease. She followed up with a kick to his knee which he deflected.

"Come on Sakura you're not serious enough. Fight like you mean it!" Kakashi goaded.

Sakura's eye twitched and Inner Sakura was ranting, **"Serious?! We'll show him serious when we crack open his skull, Shannaro!"** and she threw a punch just a little bit harder than normal. Kakashi dodged but the tree behind him wasn't so lucky. They heard a loud cracking and saw that the place where Sakura punched was indented a good three inches. This elicited different reactions from the rest of the team. Sakura didn't seem to notice what she had done nor was she affected by hitting the tree that hard. Sasuke just stood there with his mouth gaping. Naruko exclaimed, "That was sooo bad-ass Sakura-chan, dattebayo!"

Kakashi however felt the slight surge of chakra in the young kunoichi and lifted his hitai-ite and saw Sakura channel a little bit of her chakra into each of her attacks and releasing it in a burst as she hit an object. Kakashi's eyes widened in shock she was doing a bastardized form of Tsunade's super strength. Noticing this Kakashi quickly called for the spar to stop.

"Well that was, for a lack of a better term, scary." Kakashi said with a sweat drop.

"What are you taking about Sensei?" Sakura asked oblivious to her actions.

"Uh, Sakura look around." Kakashi told her in response.

Sakura did as she was told and eeped at the destruction she had wrought. Bowing repeatedly in apology she said, "I'm so sorry Kakashi-sensei, I didn't mean to do that."

Kakashi looked at her dumbfounded, "Why are you under the impression that I'm upset. The only know person with the chakra control to do that is Tsunade-sama, and you did it unconsciously. I am amazed to say the least."

Sakura blushed in response to the praise, but Sasuke was looking jealous. "Sasuke don't start thinking like that." Kakashi said sharply, "You each have your talents and your weaknesses. Naruko's strength is her enormous chakra reserves, but has little control. Sakura's weakness is the opposite. You actually have the least weaknesses out of the three of you with better than average reserves and control, so don't get jealous over anything."

Sasuke looked mollified by that explanation so Kakashi continued on, "Now that I know your taijutsu strengths I want you all to give me an in depth rundown of your abilities. Sasuke you first."

Sasuke looked a little irritated at being commanded but answered anyway, "I'm skilled in my clan's style of taijutsu, but since I haven't had an actual instructor I'm not as good as I could be. My jutsus include Goukakyuu no Jutsu, Housenka no Jutsu, Ryuuka no Jutsu, and Kage Shuriken no Jutsu. I haven't had any training with genjutsu."

Kakashi nodded then pointed at Sakura saying, "Your turn."

Sakura took a deep breath then replied, "Rin-obasan has been teaching me medical jutsu for three years now so I can heal minor to moderate injuries with the Shousen no Jutsu. I know genjutsu like the Kokohi no Jutsu, Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu, and the Kori Shinchuu no Jutsu. That's pretty much it."

"Naruko you're up next and don't forget to explain Fuuinjutsu to them." Kakashi told Naruko.

"Hai, hai. My taijutsu is crap like Kakashi-sensei pointed out. My only ninjutsu are the Oiroke no Jutsu and Kage Bunshin. My genjutsu skills are shitty. My best skills though come from Fuuinjutsu: The Art of Sealing. When most people when they think of fuuinjutsu they only think of exploding tags and storage scrolls but it can do so much more. With it you can make nearly impenetrable barriers, hold and restrict opponents way stronger than yourself, seal even things like fire. Fuuinjutsu is only really limited by your imagination and your attention to detail."

Sakura raised her hand instinctively like in the academy and asked, "What do you mean by attention to detail?"

"Well to use fuuinjutsu you have to describe what you want your chakra to do. The more advanced and strong the seal the more you have to describe. Here's an example." Naruko answered. She pulled two scrolls out of a pouch and laid them on the ground. She opened one to reveal that it had the kanji for storage written repeatedly with an even amount of space in between. She placed her hand on one kanji and put some chakra into it and said "Kai" and out popped a ready cup of ramen which Naruko devoured in fifteen seconds. This left them all gaping in mild horror.

"Also if you use the right kind of ink no one else will be able to access your seal. The way to do this is to mix your blood with the ink. This must be done in a fifty-fifty split between the two or at least more of the blood but it would be stupid to do that if you didn't have to." Naruko added.

Sakura looked at her in confusion, "But yesterday you did your entire seal in your own blood. Wasn't that dangerous?" she asked.

"And stupid. Don't forget stupid." Naruko grumbled and they laughed at her…well Sasuke smirked anyways. "Bastard I'll need your help for the next one." she said as she unraveled the other scroll. "Use your Goukakyuu no Jutsu on me." This was greeted by a pair of protests from Sakura and Kakashi. Sasuke only looked at the confidence on her face and nodded and flashed through the signs and shouted "Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" and the fireball shot at Naruko. Naruko didn't panic she simply formed the tiger seal then slapped both her palms on the ground and shouted "Fuuka Houin!" and tendrils of chakra grabbed the fireball and pulled it into the paper forming the kanji for fire in the circle that was in the center of the scroll.

Sakura and Sasuke could only gape at the scroll. Kakashi had an impressed look in his eye. Naruko simply smiled smugly and said, "This is just one of the things I can do with fuuinjutsu. Kakashi-sensei I bet you've heard of the Chikatsu Saisei right?" she asked when Kakashi nodded Naruko continued, "Yeah I know the theory behind that and I could probably do it but somehow I don't think that any of the medic staff will be willing to let me test it out."

Kakashi spluttered at a loss for words, _"But the Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu is an extremely complicated combination of fuuinjutsu and medical jutsu. To be able to do that at her age…that's amazing."_

"The best part about fuuinjutsu is that if you can write down the seal you don't have to worry about chakra control because I write my own control into it. I have almost no limitations with fuuinjutsu. With it I can surpass the past Hokages." she said with a smile.

"Dobe teach me fuuinjutsu." Sasuke commanded.

Naruko tilted her head as she looked at him appraisingly then shook her head, "Sorry Sasuke you don't have the spark."

Sasuke growled at her, "And what do you mean by that?"

Naruko glared at his tone and said "With fuuinjutsu there is only so much that one can teach, before you have to take over and design your own seals. You lack the creativity to do that. Sure I'd be able to teach you the seals that I know and made, but that would be giving you my power, and would you really be satisfied using my power?"

Sasuke grunted and turned away unable to find a suitable come back. Kakashi took the opportunity in this lack of arguing to pull out six pieces of paper that he handed to each of the genin.

"What is this for Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.

"That Sakura-chan is a special paper that will show your chakra affinity when you channel chakra into it. When you channel the paper in your dominant hand it will show your dominant chakra type and when you channel chakra into your other hand it shows your secondary type." Kakashi answered her.

They all looked down at the papers in their hands they shrugged collectively and did as he told and the paper in Naruko's right hand split in half while the one in her left got wet. The one in Sakura's right hand turned to dust and the other was wet as well. Sasuke's right one crumpled up and his other burned up.

"My, my quite a diverse bunch aren't we? Naruko's got wind and water, Sakura's got earth and water, and Sasuke's got lightning and fire. Only one intersecting element and it's the girls' secondary."

Naruko was looking envyingly at Sasuke, "No fair I wanted lightning it destroys things…" she said with a pout.

"Don't be feeling left out Naruko-chan. Don't you know that wind is considered the combat element?" Kakashi told her.

"Really?" Naruko asked with her eyes shining.

"Yep, it will also make things easier when I get you a sword." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

All three genin stared at him stunned before they all burst out, "Cool! I get a sword!", "Kakashi-sensei I don't think that will end well…", "Why does the dobe get a sword and I don't?"

Kakashi who had somehow understood all of them answered "In order: Yes. You worry too much. And because her body is made for kenjutsu."

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked as always.

"Well Sakura let me put it this way: Each person has a body made to express a certain trait. Yours is power. This means you will almost always hit harder than the other two. Sasuke's is balance, meaning he is neither specifically suited for either but does well in both. Naruko on the other hand is speed meaning that she will almost always be faster than the two of you." Kakashi responded.

Sasuke looked irritated, "Then wouldn't a person like me who has more balance be better suited for kenjutsu?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Often it is the first strike that determines the winner in kenjutsu. If you are both aiming for a vital spot and she is a bit faster she will win and you would die. Speed is without a doubt the most important quality in kenjutsu but that does not mean you can slack on strength. If you were to meet a person with the same speed as you it becomes a contest of strength. This means that Naruko will have to start bulking up." he said while pulling arm and leg weights out of nowhere.

Naruko groaned while Sakura was looking relieved. "Don't worry you two I have some for you as well." Kakashi said with an eye smile while pulling out more weights for Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura looked anxious while Sasuke's eye was twitching.

"I've decided to start you off light with five extra pounds on each limb." Kakashi told them.

Naruko scoffed, "Big deal an extra five pounds what'll that do?"

Kakashi looked at her slightly amused, "Oh you'd be surprised Naruko-chan. Now I want you to do one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups and then ten laps around Konoha. Then I want you to repeat this process until I say stop."

The genin all paled in fear. "Are you insane!?" Naruko asked incredulously.

Kakashi brought his hand to his chin thoughtfully, "Hmm, I don't know personally, but several professionals have indicated I am."

All three of them had their eyes twitching, _"Please tell me he's joking!"_ they all thought desperately.

They did the exercises until the sun went down, each of them exhausted beyond words.

Kakashi who had been reading his book the entire time said, "Good job you three, you can stop for the day. Remember be here tomorrow bright and early. Oh, don't forget to eat a good breakfast because this is only the tip of the iceberg. Welcome to Hell, Team Seven." and he poofed away.

They all laid there breathing heavily before Naruko stood up shakily and dredged up the chakra for two Kage Bunshins. They poofed into existence and helped Sasuke and Sakura to their feet. They both walked away without saying anything, silently accepting the clone's assistance to their houses.

Naruko made her way back to her apartment in a daze. She had never been this tired in her life. It also occurred to her that if she was this tired imagine how bad Sasuke and Sakura felt. Shuddering she made it into her apartment collapsing onto the bed without bothering to undress.

"_So tired. Need sleep."_ she thought hazily. She then felt anger an anger at Sasuke for not even bothering to thank her clone, like Sakura did, for helping his tired ass back all the way to his house. Wait what?! How did she know that? Ah well there would be time to think about that tomorrow. There's always tomorrow, for now the sweet oblivion of sleep.

**

* * *

**

Well there's Chapter 3. Man that took too long. I never really thought about their training so I didn't have a plan for it. It took me forever to come up with one. Also I had to think up an interesting way to get Naruko out of the 'Kill Me' suit.

**Hehe fan-girl politics. Amusing.**

**Yeah Sakura's aunt is Rin. I thought Sakura needed to be stronger so I gave her one of the best medic-nins for a relative. Seriously though she must be pretty freaking good to the eye transplant. **

**Translations:**

**Housenka no Jutsu: Mythical Phoenix Fire Technique**

**Ryuuka no Jutsu: Dragon Fire Technique**

**Shousen no Jutsu: Mythical Hand Technique (The standard green healing thing)**

**Kokohi no Jutsu: False Place Technique **

**Kori Shinchuu no Jutsu: Sly Mind Affect Technique**

**Magen • Narakumi no Jutsu: Demonic Illusion • Hell Viewing Technique**

**Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu: Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique (The jutsu used to heal Neji after the 'Retrieve Sasuke Mission')**

**Don't make me beg for reviews. I will but I'd **_**really**_** rather not. Flamers remember that no matter how bad your crap is it's still not as hot as flaming napalm… **


	5. A Bet and A Sword

**Here's Chapter 4. This chapter came easier to me than I thought it would. It's going to show a glimpse of Naruko's fear and sadness caused by the Kyuubi. I definitely think that a person thrown into her situation would have self worth issues. Sue me if you think otherwise. I'm also writing translations next to the respective term in bold. This might make it easier for the story to flow.**

* * *

A Bet and a Sword

Once again Naruko woke up to the blaring of her alarm clock. Repeating yesterdays process she laid back down. And then the follow-up event happened, someone started banging on her door. Snarling she got up and stalked towards the door. Wrenching it open she saw Sasuke standing with her alarm clock again.

"You seriously need to stop throwing this away. I'm not sure I'll live through you doing it everyday." he said with a glare.

"Well if you stopped bringing it back that wouldn't be a problem now would it?" Naruko said through gritted teeth.

Sasuke looked up and down at her. "What'd you do, sleep in your clothes?"

Naruko blushed and stammered, "O-of course I didn't. This is a copy of the outfit I bought yesterday."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this, "Really? I was under the impression that you bought only one. Good thing too, otherwise you wouldn't have anything to change into today."

Naruko narrowed her eyes dangerously at this and asked, "What are you talking about Bastard?"

Sasuke looked mildly surprised but answered, "I thought Sakura would've told you. While you were shopping yesterday I collected all of your clothes and burnt them. I was going for the whole purify with flame theme."

Naruko's eye was twitching rapidly. She looked around her room and saw that all the jumpsuits that were normally lying around were gone. Rushing over to her dresser she opened her underwear drawer and saw that her emergency suit was gone as well.

"Sasuke-teme…" Naruko trailed off ominously gaining her aura of darkness and her hair writhing. Sasuke gulped and tried to make a run for it, but Naruko caught him after five steps, she dragged him back into her room and closed the door behind her. His screams of pain echoed throughout the village.

"Well now that that's settled I've got a question Bastard." Naruko told him wiping her hands off and continuing like she hadn't just tried to beat the life out of Sasuke.

Sasuke's eye twitched and he said, "Settled my ass! Why did you beat the crap out of me?!"

Naruko blinked out of confusion, "You looked through my underwear drawer and you're asking me that?"

"Hell yeah I am! Yesterday it was my job to make sure you can't have a jumpsuit relapse. I bought every jumpsuit in the village and burnt them too. After that I even went as far as paying the shop owners in the city to never buy them ever again. Compared to that I think looking through your panty drawer is a little on the mild side. And why are you so mad I saw your underwear anyways? It's not like you didn't give me a free show yesterday." Sasuke's eyes widened at his own words and immediately realizing the stupidity of them he ran away.

Naruko was rooted to the spot still trying to comprehend Sasuke's stupidity. When it finally registered she turned bright red and shouted, "ERO-UCHIHA!!!" and chased after him.

They ran through the village at speeds disproportionate to their rank surprising many older ninjas. Also of great surprise was the finely honed killer intent being sent at the young Uchiha. Unfortunately while running through a particularly crowded section of Konoha someone grabbed Naruko's hair nearly ripping it out and causing her to fall down. Sasuke didn't notice this and kept running like his life depended on it (which it probably did). While Naruko was trying to get the wind that had been knocked out of her back a few people started to kick her hard in the side and a few in the head.

Sasuke who had finally noticed that Naruko had stopped chasing went back to investigate and was furious at what he saw. His Uchiha pride was screaming at him to stop this unwarranted attack, while another part of him was screaming even louder to kill these stupid villagers for attacking his teammate. Sasuke jumped at them and kicked one of the villagers in the head hard enough to send him flying. Moving on before the rest of the group could realize what had happened he punched another in the face and kicked another in the side of his knee breaking it with a sickening crunch. Dropping down he swept the legs out of the last one with a kick then stood up and curb stomped his face.

He turned to see Naruko curled up into a ball, and an unfamiliar feeling took hold of him. Normally his emotions range from anger, irritation, and the desire to get stronger. Now however he felt the first time a desire to protect someone, and he liked the feeling. He reached out to touch Naruko to see if she was alright but she flinched away. Anger welled up in him again and he reached down and picked up Naruko bridal style. He was furious to feel her shaking like a leaf.

"It's alright Dobe. They're gone." Sasuke said quietly.

Naruko looked up at the familiar nickname and turned away not wanting to look at him. "What do you want Bastard? I didn't need your help…"

Sasuke didn't respond immediately. He could understand not wanting to admit to needing someone's help. After all his pride was one of his strongest traits. "Those men were just annoying me. That's all." he said and then went to look for Sakura because he _knew_ that Naruko wouldn't want to go to the hospital unless absolutely necessary.

"Good, now put me down somewhere I'm going to take a quick nap…" Naruko said with her words slurring a bit.

As she fell unconscious Sasuke sped up. He knew that it could be bad for a person with head trauma to fall asleep. Arriving at Sakura's house he kicked the door as his hands were otherwise occupied. He heard footsteps coming and began tapping his foot impatiently. He was surprised but pleased when he saw Rin pull open the door.

"What the hell happened to her? Sasuke if you hurt her-" she started but Sasuke cut her off, "No I didn't do anything to her!" he snarled angrily. Stunned at his tone of his voice Rin calmed down and listened to Sasuke relate the story of what happened. The anger that had been present in Sasuke was also flowing through Rin.

"THOSE BASTARDS!!" Rin shouted drawing Sakura to the living room. She saw Naruko and gasped. She rushed over and performed a diagnostic jutsu on her. "What happened to the attackers?" she asked angrily. Sasuke smirked and said "If you four patients in today two with broken noses, one with a skull fracture and another with a broken knee don't be surprised."

Rin looked approvingly at him, "Good job gaki, never let anyone hurt your teammates and get away with it. Just make sure you don't kill them because then you have to deal with the paperwork stating why you did it and that's more hassle than it's worth."

Sasuke nodded and Rin took over for Sakura. Taking him by the arm Sakura led Sasuke into the kitchen. "What happened?" Sakura asked. Sasuke retold what happened and Sakura was turning red in anger. "Not this again!" Sakura shouted. Seeing Sasuke's confused look she told him about the events of the day before.

"It boils down to this: Naruko's hiding something from us. Now the question is do we push her about or do we wait for her to tell us?" Sasuke asked.

"I think that if we push her she'll just push back. We have to wait for her to tell us. She's as stubborn as either of us easily, so she'll just close us out." Sakura answered.

Sasuke nodded and said "I guess. But I hate seeing her like this. It just seems wrong to me."

Sakura looked at the pained expression on his face and felt her heart clench a bit. _"He can't have feelings for her can he? No! No he can't they barely know each other."_ she reassured herself.

Rin came into the kitchen then and looking at them both and said, "I healed her up but I still think she should take it easy for the day."

The two genin snorted and Rin looked at them curiously. "She doesn't do easy Rin-obasan. She either goes all out or doesn't do something at all." Sakura said in answer to her look.

Rin sighed and then said, "I guess I'm going to have to have a word with Kakashi then. He'll be late like always so Sakura why don't you show them the tree climbing exercise when she's ready." and then she left.

Sasuke looked at her curiously and asked, "Tree climbing?"

Sakura just smiled and said "You'll see."

* * *

Naruko woke up forty-five minutes later jumping up in a defensive stance. She relaxed when she saw Sasuke and Sakura. "Dobe what was that about?" Sasuke asked as bluntly as ever. He knew they decided not to push the subject, but he couldn't resist trying at least once.

Naruko shifted nervously and said, "Maybe they weren't fans of one of my pranks?"

"You know it wasn't that so tell us." Sasuke said completely disregarding her answer.

"Look, mind your own business…" Naruko said looking away from them. How was one supposed to tell someone that they had the demon who attacked the village in your stomach?

"And I thought I told you we're a team. We want to help you." Sakura said quietly and Sasuke made a very small nod indicating his agreement.

Naruko was quiet, thinking hard. Then she said, "Sorry but like I told you I'll tell you eventually."

They looked displeased with that response but both Sasuke and Sakura nodded in acceptance.

Suddenly Naruko snapped her attention back to Sasuke, "I just remembered I still have to kill you don't I?" she asked her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Sasuke gulped remembering why she had been chasing him and bolted out the open window. Naruko tried to go after him but Sakura stopped her, "Naruko don't. Whatever he did he made up for it."

"It better be pretty damn good to make up for saying I gave him a free show…" Naruko grumbled. So Sakura told her what Sasuke did to the guys that had hit her. Naruko started crying silently as she heard what Sasuke had done.

"What's wrong Naruko?" Sakura asked seeing her tears.

"The baka didn't need to do that. I'm not worth that…" Naruko sobbed out.

_SMACK!_ Naruko was staggering back after being slapped across the face. Holding her hand up to her face looking at Sakura in confusion. "Don't ever say you're not worth somebody helping you. If Sasuke decided to help you, you were obviously worth it to him. If I had been there those guys wouldn't have gotten off so easily!" she said loudly.

Naruko looked at her like she had never really seen her before. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and nodded. Sakura reached and hugged the poor girl who stiffened instinctively. Eventually she awkwardly hugged her back.

"Ne, Sakura-chan can you do something for me?" Naruko asked.

"Sure Naruko." Sakura responded.

"Can you not tell Sasuke-teme about this?" Naruko asked pleadingly.

"Why?" Sakura asked bluntly.

At this Naruko frowned. Why should she care if Sasuke knew about this? Unfamiliar emotions were flickering through her and she was having trouble deciphering them. All that she was able to identify was the feeling of not wanting to be seen as weak.

"He can't know because he'll think I'm weak. He only respects strength. I need him to respect me." Naruko answered her.

"Why?" Sakura asked again once more feeling a pang in her chest at the thought of the two possibly developing emotions for each other.

Naruko shrugged unable to answer. Sakura looked at her for a moment longer and nodded accepting that answer for now. "Okay let's go find Sasuke-kun. Rin-obasan told me to teach you guys an new exercise."

"That sounds great, dattebayo!" Naruko said putting what had transpired behind her. They both left through the door not knowing that Sasuke had been in a bush right outside the window throughout the whole exchange.

* * *

At their usual training grounds they all met up and Sakura took them to a nearby group of trees. "Alright the goal of this exercise is to climb to the top of the tree." Sakura told them.

Naruko scoffed, "News flash Sakura-chan: we already know how to climb trees." Sasuke nodded in agreement.

Sakura smirked, "Yeah but can you do it without your hands?", she asked. She then signed the ram seal she walked over to a tree and started to walk up it. She eventually reached a branch and walked out on it to hang upside down and look at them.

Naruko was looking at Sakura with stars in her eyes, "Amazing Sakura-chan! Teach me oh wise one!" she said excitedly and even Sasuke looked interested.

Sakura blushed at the praise and asked, "You guys both know that chakra is the combination of spiritual and physical energy right?" when they both nodded she continued, "This exercise will teach you how to combine them in a more efficient way. By channeling chakra to the bottom of your feet, which is the hardest part of your body to channel chakra into, you put just the right amount to stick onto the tree. Too little and you fall off, too much and you'll be blasted off."

"Ne, Sakura-chan this is cool and all but how will it make us stronger?" Naruko asked curiously.

"By knowing how to use your chakra better you can decrease the amount of chakra you waste in performing your jutsu. With your control the way it is you probably use four times the amount of energy than you should be." Sakura told her. She then tossed them a kunai each and said, "You can use that to mark your progress."

Sasuke and Naruko looked at each other and glared, "Loser buys the other dinner." Naruko proposed. Sasuke smirked and said, "You're on Dobe."

Sakura flinched. Wasn't an agreement to meet each other for dinner a date? **"Shannaro, I won't lose Sasuke-kun to Naruko!"** Inner Sakura proclaimed and she started doing the exercise herself.

"What are doing that for Sakura?" Sasuke asked.

Excited that she had gotten his attention back from Naruko she said, "If I keep doing this exercise it'll increase my chakra reserves."

Sasuke nodded and went to try his luck on the tree. He only made it up a few steps before the tree cracked from his chakra. Performing a quick back flip he landed smoothly. _"Tch, harder than I thought…"_ he thought. He turned to watch Naruko make her first attempt and she didn't even get as far as him before slipped off and landed on the back of her head.

"PAIN!" she exclaimed holding the back of her head. Naruko glared at her tree and stood back up to do it again. She rushed up the tree and barely made it past where she made it before.

"Gah, why is this so hard?" she asked frustrated. She and Sasuke continued to climb the tree for the next two and a half hours with little improvement. Finally Kakashi arrived and Naruko and Sakura shouted "YOU'RE LATE!" like always.

"I got lost on the road of life…" was his pitiful attempt at an excuse this time. This of course left the three genin gaping.

"Good news! Rin has advised me that I may be pushing you too hard and that I should take it easier on you guys." Kakashi told them ignoring their obvious irritation.

"Like hell! No offense Sakura-chan by your aunt is crazy if she doesn't think we can handle his training!" Naruko shouted apparently taking offense to what Kakashi said. Sasuke and Sakura looked hesitantly at Naruko. It was not that they didn't agree with her. It was more of the fact that she had been injured and they didn't want her to get hurt more. Noticing the lack of the enthusiastic agreement that she had been expecting she turned around and saw their looks.

Naruko rolled her eyes and said, "I'll be fine. You two worry too much."

Nodding reluctantly the two other genin agreed. Kakashi eye-smiled at them, "Well time to get started. Let's go with the same plan as yesterday." and the three set to work.

By that night each one of them were exhausted but not to the same extent of the day before. Before they left Kakashi tossed them each a book entitled "Konoha Battle Tactics and Formations".

"What's this for Kakashi-sensei?" Naruko asked holding it away from her like it was some poisonous animal about to strike her.

"That, my dear Naruko-chan, is for you to memorize and recite to me by heart by the end of the week." Kakashi told her. The three genin paled, the book had to be at least two hundred pages long. Each genin went home visibly depressed. Naruko still made sure to buy a few more copies of her outfit on her way home this time though.

As Naruko laid down to go to bed this time in her normal night time clothes, she thought _"At least I'm not as tired as yesterday…wait yesterday!"_ she sat bolt up right with a hopeful look on her face.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and a clone popped into existence and jumped out her window. She waited five minutes and was rewarded with the knowledge that Sasuke was still up as well studying from his book. Tears of happiness flowed from her eyes as she realized a new application for the Kage Bunshin. Making another one she handed it the book and laid back down with a huge smile on her face.

* * *

The rest of the week passed in roughly the same fashion with only two events worth mentioning. Half-way through the week Kakashi doubled their weight to ten pounds. The second was that on the fifth day Naruko, who had finally gotten fed up of not making any progress on the tree climbing decided to ask Sakura for advice.

"Ne, Sakura-chan can you give me any tips on how to do this?" she asked in a whisper so that Sasuke wouldn't hear.

Sakura was surprised, she didn't think Naruko would actually ask for help. "Why do you think you need it?" she asked.

Naruko's eye twitched, and she asked "Have you seen my tree? It's basically covered in scratch marks with no progress made. Come on Sakura-chan I don't want to lose to him."

Sakura nodded, there was nothing wrong with supporting a rivalry especially since that might keep them from developing more…intimate feelings for each other. "First off are you concentrating or just running at the tree and hoping for the best?" she asked guessing the answer. Naruko scratched her cheek embarrassed and laughing nervously. Sakura sighed and went on a lengthy explanation about how to focus and control her chakra.

The next day to her even greater surprise Sasuke walked over to her. "Oi, Sakura what did you tell Naruko yesterday?" he asked embarrassed. Sakura squealed inwardly, _"YES! I get to help Sasuke-kun!"_, and Inner Sakura was doing some sort of victory dance.

At the end of the week Naruko and Sasuke finally made it to the top of their trees. As they both raced up Naruko ran just a little bit harder than usual and pulled out a victory.

"HA! I won Bastard. This means you're treating me to dinner tonight at Ichiraku's!" she told him excitedly.

Sasuke grumbled and said, "Better be there by seven or otherwise I'm not waiting for you and the deal's off." Naruko looked skeptical at the idea of being late for ramen but couldn't express it due to the fact that Kakashi showed up.

Kakashi decided to quiz them on "Konoha's Battle Tactics and Formations" instead of physical training that day and was surprised that each of them had actually pulled it off. Now Sakura he wasn't that surprised about, Sasuke mildly so, but Naruko had the attention span of a four year old so that came as a shock.

"Naruko how did you memorize the entire thing?" Sakura asked just as confused as Kakashi.

"Well I found out that I learn anything my shadow clones learn so this entire week I've been having clones read that stupid book." she told them all.

Kakashi's eye focused sharply on Naruko, "Naruko I don't want you to use that method to train."

Looking deflated she asked, "Why not Kakashi-sensei?"

"Because your brain isn't fully formed and you could cause irreversible harm." he told her.

Naruko gulped and said, "Th-that sounds like a good enough reason to me, dattebayo…"

"Well we're done with team training for the day. Naruko before you go anywhere I need to talk to you about kenjutsu training." Kakashi told her.

She whooped loudly, "You mean I finally get a sword?"

Kakashi eye-smiled, "Well now that you have enough strength built up I think I can introduce you to your kenjutsu teacher. He'll decide if you get a sword."

Naruko wilted visibly, "So you're not going to be teaching me?" she asked sadly.

"Nope. I suck at kenjutsu. I got you the foremost kenjutsu expert in the village." Kakashi told her cheerfully.

Naruko pulled a 180 and said "You're the best Kakashi-sensei!"

"I know." he said sagely. He then led her through the village until he came to a training dojo. Opening the door he said, "Hayate here's your new precious student."

"I was wondering 'cough' when you'd show up." a voice said. Naruko looked around and saw a sickly looking man in a standard jounin outfit.

"Yeah sorry we got lost on the road of life…" Naruko said mockingly. Hayate laughed at the scandalized look on Kakashi's face.

"So you're 'cough, cough' my new student?" Hayate asked Naruko.

"Yep, I'm Uzumaki Naruko future Hokage, dattebayo! Aren't you a little sick to be a kenjutsu master?" she asked bluntly. Before she could say anything else Hayate was right behind her sheathing his sword. As she turned around one of her pigtails fell off.

"My name is Gekko Hayate, and I manage well enough if I do say so myself." he said with a smirk.

Naruko's eyes narrowed, "You're lucky that grows back or you'd be cleaning blood off the floor for weeks." as she was talking her hair was growing back at an alarming rate.

Both Kakashi and Hayate stared dumbfounded. "Um, Naruko how long have you know that would happen?" Kakashi asked.

"Hmm, what are you talking about?" she asked him confused.

"You do know hair doesn't grow back that fast right?" he deadpanned.

Naruko looked at him confused. "Are you sure? I mean I've had the same hair length for six years now…GAH! Maybe it's that bastard fox messing with me!"

Kakashi and Hayate exchanged a look and Kakashi nodded. Suddenly Hayate lunged forward at a high speed cutting at Naruko's chest. Amazingly she bent backwards with the sword going right over her.

"What the hell was that for?!" Naruko shouted. She was breathing heavily and looked betrayed by the turn of events.

"Sorry, Naruko-san but I had to confirm something." Hayate said apologetically.

"Well you'd better have a pretty damn good reason!" she shouted angrily.

"I had to check your reflexes when someone came at you with the intent to kill. My theory was that the Kyuubi worked changes on your body to make it more animalistic. It looks like I was right and you have an animal's instinctive ability to sense and avoid danger. There may well be more changes that have taken place that we never know the full extent of. Konoha has no history with jinchuuriki, and other villages won't let us in on the information."

Naruko looked shocked by the revelation. Now that she thought about it when a few villagers tried to ambush her once when she was younger she had sensed something was wrong and avoided them. But still didn't this just prove that she wasn't completely human?

"NO! NO YOU'RE WRONG! I'M HUMAN!" she shouted angrily.

Kakashi looked at her in sympathy, "We never said you weren't. Look at the Inuzuka clan they have more animal qualities than you do, but they are still human. All this means is that you have qualities resembling them. You probably could train yourself to have a heightened sense of both hearing and smell. Take deep long breathes Naruko." he told her calmly.

Naruko tried desperately to get her breathing under control. She started to do as he said and found that it calmed her immensely. She looked at him sheepishly, "Sorry Kakashi-sensei, I guess I lost control there a bit."

He eye-smiled at her and said, "Don't worry about it Naruko-chan."

Hayate coughed again and said, "I guess that's our cue to get started. Naruko-san pick up one of the wooden swords and lets see which style will suit you best."

Naruko picked out one shaped like an ordinary katana swung it around a few times and then shrugged and lifted it into a ready position. Hayate grabbed one as well then launched into an attack. They went back and forth, Hayate looking closely and analyzing her. Nodding to himself Hayate disengaged and set down the practice sword.

"Well Naruko-san from what I can tell you prefer offense and are disdainful of true defense preferring to dodge rather block, and you'll attack both head on and from unexpected angles. If I were to choose your style I'd have to say the Kaze no Odori **(Dance of the Wind)**, would you agree with that Kakashi?" Hayate asked.

Kakashi nodded as though seeing something he hadn't noticed before. "Yeah that sounds good to me. You know that one don't you?" he asked in return.

"Yes, it's one of the three styles that I know along with Tsuki no Odori, and Doryuken." he told him. "Naruko for this style you'll be using a ninjato, a short sword designed for parries and quick attacks. I'll take you to buy one now since the shops haven't closed yet. Do you have a particular store that you use?" Hayate asked knowing that ninjas usually picked one supplier and stuck with it unless circumstances forced them to use another one.

"Yep Masamune's, Jiji is really cool. He and I have a you scratch my back I scratch yours thing going on. I've to run home and grab something real quick though be right back." she said brightly. At this Kakashi's and Hayate's eyebrows rose, they both knew Masamune Ken to be notoriously picky about who he sells to.

* * *

When Naruko got back they all made their way to the shop and entered hearing loud arguing. At the counter was girl in a pink Chinese shirt with her hair tied up in two buns. "But Ojii-san I need more scrolls! They got destroyed on my last mission!" the girl said pleadingly.

The old man whose grizzled gray hair fell over his eyes crossed his arms and said adamantly, "NO! You've got to learn to take better care of them. Those scrolls I got were from a special supplier and I don't have any more right now. Even if I did I don't know if I would let you have them!"

"But Ojii-san it's not my fault they were barbequed! Those scrolls hold way more than the other ones you stock, please get me more of them!" she begged.

"OI! Jiji how's it going?" Naruko asked casually. Masamune looked up and his face brightened. He walked out from behind the counter and they could see the plain black clothes under his apron with the kanji for sword on it.

"Naruko-chan, long time no see. Do you have anything new to sell to me?" he asked kindly.

Naruko shook her head and said, "Nope since I became genin my sensei has kept me too busy to make anything new. I have some of the usual though." And with that Naruko reached into her pouch and pulled out two scrolls and tossed them to him.

The girl was looking back and forth between the scrolls and Naruko. Rushing over she grabbed Naruko's hand with both of hers and with stars in her eyes asked "Will you make me some of those?"

Naruko who was a little put off by the physical contact stood there stunned. "Huh?" was all that she could manage to say.

"I said will you make me some of those scrolls?" she asked hopefully.

"Sorry no can do. I've got a contract with Jiji here saying that as long as I don't sell them to anyone else I can have whatever I want for free. I'm not going to mess up a deal like that." Naruko answered apologetically.

Masamune grabbed the girl and pulled her off Naruko and said apologetically, "Excuse my granddaughter Naruko-chan, she apparently hasn't learned enough manners to introduce herself before asking favors."

Tenten pulled out of his grip and bowed apologetically and said "Forgive my rudeness. In my excitement I forgot my basic manners. My name is Masamune Tenten, and I'm a weapons specialist."

Naruko smiled brightly and said, "Don't worry about it. My name is Uzumaki Naruko and my specialty is fuuinjutsu. Although I guess I'm trying to learn kenjutsu now aren't I?"

Masamune's eyes brightened considerably, "I've been telling you for ages to learn kenjutsu why the sudden change of heart?" he asked happily. In response Naruko just pointed back at her two sensei who had been standing there unnoticed throughout the whole exchange. Recognizing Hayate he smiled warmly and said "Gekko Hayate, I haven't seen you since you bought Getsuei."

Hayate smiled and bowed, "That's because I haven't needed another sword nor would I with a sword as great as this."

Nodding he turned to Kakashi and glared at him while Kakashi scratched the back of his head nervously, "You're that brat that broke the Hakko Chakra To."

"I told you I was sorry didn't I?" Kakashi asked fidgeting around.

Masamune harrumphed and turned back to Hayate, "So what style is she learning?"

"Kaze no Odori." he answered.

Masamune tilted his head to the side as he looked at Naruko and then he nodded agreeing. "So I guess you'll be needing a short sword then? Wakizashi, kodachi, or ninjato?" he asked.

"Ninjato." he responded.

Masamune nodded and lead them over to a wall with four swords on display. "Ninjato aren't swords I specialize in so the quality isn't as good as my katana but unless it gets mangled by something huge like a odachi or a zanbato it'll work just fine as your first sword, Naruko-chan." Masamune told her.

Naruko reached for one with black handle and a red sheath and drew the blade. It made a ringing sound as it was unsheathed. Naruko smiled a little sadistically, "Pretty" and everyone besides Tenten edged away from her. Tenten meanwhile was crying tears of joy, _"Finally someone understands!"_

"Jiji, this sword is covered by our contract right?" Naruko asked eagerly. Masamune nodded and Naruko ran off happily. Sweat dropping Masamune turned to Hayate and said, "Make sure she knows what she's doing before you actually let her use that sword."

"I intend to." Hayate responded with a smile. With that Kakashi and Hayate left to follow Naruko who they assumed went back to the dojo. They arrived and heard an unholy amount of noise coming from inside the dojo. Looking at each other nervously Kakashi reached out and opened the door.

Hayate's eye twitched. In the short amount of time that Naruko had been on her own with her sword she had proceeded to chop everything that was made of wood including the floor. "NARUKO!" he shouted bringing her to a stop in mid attack against the aggressive wall.

"What?" she asked innocently.

Hayate looked at Kakashi pleadingly, but he just said "Sorry but after team training she's your problem." and poofed away. Hayate sighed and motioned for Naruko to come over. Hayate grabbed the sword out of her hand and sheathed it.

"Naruko-san-" he started but she interrupted him.

"NOPE! No -san. Just Naruko." she said firmly.

Nodding he said, "Naruko before I let you have this sword back promise me that you won't cut up anything in the dojo without my approval."

"I promise, and I never go back on my word, dattebayo!" she said enthusiastically.

Smiling he handed back the sword. He then went to a wall and pulled down another ninjato and unsheathed it. "Naruko, the Kaze no Odori is comprised of two stances. The first is Kaze Ryuuchou no Odori **(Dance of the Flowing Wind)** the defensive stance."

"Hey, wait I thought you said there wasn't a defense in this style." she reminded him.

He shook his head and said, "No style completely lacks a form of defense. This style just focuses on dodging and deflecting attacks. Here is your stance." He then reversed the grip on the ninjato and shifted his position so that his left was behind his right with almost all his weight in his back foot. His elbow was bent so as to receive and cushion oncoming blows.

"The way this stance is set up is that with your weight on your back foot you can easily push off and retreat. It'll also let you push forward when you switch to offense. Keep in mind that mobility is one of your best tools in this style. The offensive stance is Kaze Hageshii no Odori **(Dance of the Violent Wind)**." He put the sword in the regular grip and positioned it at his side. He then redistributed his weight so that it was on his front foot.

"This stance is meant to be the following stance after finding an opening while using the Kaze Ryuuchou. When you strike, you do it fast. Don't worry about power. Think faster, always faster." he told her.

She nodded and asked, "Um, Hayate-sensei are there any cool finishing moves like in the movies?"

Hayate sweat dropped and answered, "Yes Naruko but I'll only teach you them after you become competent in using these two stances."

"Then I'll master these and learn the cool moves in no time, dattebayo!" she said excitedly. She sparred against Hayate until the sun started going down. She paused mid-swing and gasped. She just remembered that she had to meet Sasuke to get her free ramen!

"Sorry Hayate-sensei I've got to go!" she said hurriedly sheathing her sword.

Hayate looked at her confused, "Are you sure? You were starting to get the hang of it." he told her.

"Yeah I've got to meet Sasuke-teme for ramen." she told him distractedly. Hayate's eyes widened in understanding.

"Just be careful, dating between teammates can sometimes be a distraction in missions." he said knowingly.

Naruko turned bright red, and spluttered, "Yo-you're wrong th-there's nothing going on between us. He just lost a bet and has to buy my dinner."

Hayate looked confused but he nodded, "My apologies I guess I misunderstood."

Still blushing Naruko ran off. She couldn't help thinking _"Is it that hard to believe that there was nothing going on between the two of us? I mean what do we even have in common? Sure we're both competitive, stubborn, and driven but seriously!"_

Unconsciously she made a quick examination of herself. There was no other way to put it: she was a mess. She was covered in sweat and she stunk. Her hair was pulled out of her pigtails a bit and dangling over her face. She stopped and automatically started to pull her hair into some semblance of tidiness. After she had finished she realized what she had done and instantly slapped herself.

"_What the hell?! I don't care what I look like and I definitely don't care what _he_ thinks about how I look! I guess everyone saying stuff about us has started to get to me. Yeah that's it!"_ she thought desperately.

She finally arrived at Ichiraku's and saw that Sasuke was still there despite what he said about not waiting for her. "Sorry for keeping you waiting. I was so busy training that I didn't realize what time it was." she explained. Looking at him confused she asked, "Why are you still here? I thought you said that you weren't waiting for me."

Sasuke's eyes darted to Ayame who had an evil gleam in her eye but Naruko didn't notice. "I just didn't want to go find somewhere else to eat since I was already here." he told her gruffly.

Flashback 15 minutes ago…

Sasuke made his way from his clan's training grounds to Naruko's ramen stand. He ducked under the flaps and was greeted by the owners daughter.

"Good evening, what can I get you tonight?" she asked politely.

"Just water for now. I'm meeting somebody." he told her.

Ayame gave him his water and then looked at Sasuke for a second and said in an off-hand manner, "So you're 'Sasuke-teme'. Naruko-chan talks about you a lot."

Sasuke choked on the water that he'd been drinking and spluttering he asked, "Wh-what do you mean?"

She grinned at him slyly and said, "Oh ho, sounds like someone's interested in little Naruko-chan."

Sasuke blushed lightly, "You've got to be kidding. Me interested in her? I've got higher standards than that." he said lightly. He was shocked when a pair of unused chopsticks pierced the glass he'd been holding. Gulping he looked at a glaring Ayame.

"Don't ever say that again." she commanded him ominously. Sasuke nodded fearfully and she continued, "That girl has enough problems without you leading her on. If you toy around with her like that it'll crush her. And if you crush her, I crush you. You'll find out exactly why I'm called Ayame!" **(Ayame can mean 'to murder') **

Ten tense minutes passed until Sasuke stood up to leave. Ayame noticed and asked "Where do you think you're going?"

Sasuke turned to her and said, "I told her if she was late that I wouldn't wait for her so I'm leaving." He then noticed the ladle she was holding bend in her grip and he quickly said, "I mean I'm going to wait here patiently for her to show up." Nodding Ayame went back to what she was doing, leaving Sasuke to shudder in fear.

End Flashback

Naruko smiled brightly, "I guess this means you admit to the superiority of ramen then." she concluded.

Ayame saw the smile that Naruko was giving Sasuke and thought, _"She's fallen for him and she doesn't even realize it yet. Aww, she's so cute!"_

Sasuke smirked back, "Nope, I just felt like it'd be a waste of time to go somewhere else when I was already here."

Naruko smiled playfully, "Careful Sasuke that was dangerously close to something Shikamaru would say." Sasuke shuddered involuntarily at being compared with the lazy genin. They continued to talk throughout their meal about training, and their teammates. When they were finished they walked off now arguing about who would finish the water walking exercise that Sakura was going to show them tomorrow first. Ayame heard them making another bet on this as well and sighed happily. She then cleared their spots of surprisingly few bowls and noted that however good it would be for Naruko to get in a relationship it would be bad for business.

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There you are chapter 4. It may be a little shorter than the last two, but I think this is a good place to stop.

**Sakura's getting jealous and for good reason. Hopefully she won't do anything desperate.**

**Naruko's got a sword everybody RUN!!! (Ookami runs away screaming like a little girl only to get caught in a snare trap by a grinning Naruko.)**

**The Kaze no Odori sounds like a good plan to me, but if anybody sees any problems point them out.**

**A first date (sort of) and Ayame is scarier than most demons when properly motivated.**

**I didn't get many reviews last time so I guess I'll have to beg. AHEM! Please, please, PLEASE send me reviews! They are like little shiny bits of hope at the end of a long depressing tunnel.**

**Flamers stay away or I'll sic Ayame on you...**


	6. Hiatus

Sorry until further notice this story is on hiatus.


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